End of a long month.

It's still hard to focus sometimes, but I am getting better.  I think we all are.  I am geographically closest to my mother, so am usually there to help with things, informally check on her, and whatever one does after the other parent dies suddenly.

I've stepped into a role Mom had in the past, since she isn't doing it: Storm Soups.  When weather got bad, Mom would make a big pot of soup.  It would warm the house while simmering, and feed us for a few days.  After they moved, portions would go to the neighbors.  Mom isn't up to it right now.  So last weekend, when Winter Storm Fern brought ice, I made a pot of 15-bean soup, with plenty of vegetables and some p'tim or large couscous or soup pearls, and delivered a big jar to her across-the-street neighbor who is a widower and becoming increasingly disabled, plus a smaller jar to Mom.  I arrived at the neighbor's house just as he returned home from getting groceries, so I helped him carry them into the garage, from where he would take them into the house using a trolley.

This weekend, it's split pea soup with vegetarian sausage, because that's what we found in the freezer.  I cooked the peas with a bit of carrot and onion, then took some of the peas out and used an immersion blender to make the rest smooth.  Peas returned, sausage added, and all cooked together a bit.  The neighbor was delighted to see this week's jar and said he would eat it for the next meal.

I had a potato that was starting to sprout, so boiled it and added it to what is left of my soup, for the next couple of meals.  Both soups are hearty and satisfying, just what is needed on very cold days.

If the weather continues to be cold, next weekend I'm making chili.

Getting other things done, of course derailed earlier this month.  I am very close to finishing one of the craft-along items for Carolina Fiber Fest, and it caused me to break my "dry January" plans by buying more yarn, because I needed a specific colour.  That was my only purchase of yarn - or any crafting stuff - in January.  I also have the sleeping bag to which to add straps for the Welcome Baby collection.  I am, as usual, behind in reading the book for my SciFi Book Club's February meeting, but did finish the one for January, although I didn't go to the meeting.

I did finish a long-pending UFO, which needed the i-cord binding added:

Yes, it needs to be washed and blocked.  It's reversible.

On Wednesday I needed something to carry-around so started a garter stitch scarf out of a ball of yarn that's been hanging around, for a charity project.  Tonight I started what will probably be my first red hat.  Some scoff at the making, but it's like the pussyhats in 2017: a visual symbol.  Accessible for people who cannot go into the streets or otherwise take a more visible stand.  A way for people to show what side they are on.  And for people who cannot do more at this time, a way to show solidarity and contribute in a way that they are able to do.  Red yarn is going out of stock at many shops.

Today I received a box of puzzles I'd ordered, and which I wasn't sure would arrive in January.  A friend mentioned Nautilus Puzzles, and I was intrigued.  I love puzzles.  I saw that they have round puzzles for each month of the year, reminiscent of or based upon Tiffany stained glass, and thought it would be fun to get the set and put together each month's puzzle in its month.  They arrived today:

I decided to try putting together the one for January, and was successful:

   

I might do the one for February tomorrow, or wait until later in the month.

For those counting, the last hostage (technically, his body) has been retrieved.

Souper Saturday.

Yesterday I decided to join a weekly session called "Shining Lights" which is designed "to shine a little light into the dark spaces. Come be inspired by examples of kindness, bravery, and hope all around us .... connect over Zoom to be reminded of how much love and beauty there is in the world."  We started with a discussion of the hostage-taking at the synagogue in Colleyville last week.  Apparently it dropped immediately off national news reporting, which I didn't realize because I have been following the papers there and of course they have constant reports.  We agreed that it seems sad but unless people die, most of the news quickly loses interest.

Then in the evening we had Rev. Alvin Johnson speak to our service, giving words of wisdom as a longtime friend of the congregation and our rabbis, and also a pillar of the community.  It was good to hear from him, as we often do around the MLK day observances.

Speaking of which, due to the weather, I was late to the blanket-making session.  I used the additional time at home (to be sure the roads were clear enough to drive safely) to write some more cards for the Meals on Wheels collections.  Then I stayed to help make egg salad sandwiches which were destined to be lunch at the South Park Inn on Tuesday.

We were supposed to provide 60 sandwiches, we ended up with about 70 plus leftover filling that the children ate while the adults cleaned the kitchen.  It was amazing where we found egg salad.  Start to finish was about 90 minutes, very impressive.

Most of the week was standard in terms of work.  I continued to make progress on the pullover and pulled out a UFO scarf.  Yesterday I did the weekly errands because today I was enrolled in a One Day University course on Abraham Lincoln, which I enjoyed.

I also made soup from a 1948/1951 cookbook:

I may have over-simmered it a bit.  I tried to halve the recipe, for practicality, and didn't measure exactly.  I also substituted carrot (which I have) for celery (which I rarely have), left out the bacon and flour (it was clearly thick enough), and didn't soak the lentils.  Overall, it's not bad, and fairly close to ad hoc recipes I make.  I definitely wanted some more seasoning, just having what the frankfurters brought was a bit one-note.

She waited several hours

My grandmother did, she said, after my birthday package arrived, before she opened it.  "I knew it was something that squished" she said, which was true because I hadn't put the gift into a box before wrapping it, so it would fit into the box I was using to mail it.

This shawl: 

Patons 'Glam Stripes' in Navy

For the record, her birthday is next Monday, and I didn't expect her to wait that long.  It's a bit of a running joke that my grandmother doesn't deal well with curiosity - she wants to know what is in the package now.  Sometimes I wonder why bother wrapping it - but she does have fun unwrapping.

I didn't finish my vest, but I did finish and mail the Mittens for Akkol grad items:

The sweater is more person-shaped when it's not patted out for photographing.  For the scarf I used the same stitch pattern as in the borders on the sweater.  The socks are overdyed wool and I didn't realize the two hanks were slightly different shades until I wound them, so I alternated yarns every three rows, with the darker one used for ribbing, heels, and toe.  The pattern had a texture to it but I left it out given the striping.  I wanted these to be semi-mindless.

The vest is past the dividing at underarms, but it's not nearly mindless enough and I am trying to figure out what to do at the armholes.  That will depend upon how much yarn is left.  I may figure it out this weekend.  For mindless things I made five rectangles for The Linus Project, and two scarves that will be donated to shelters.  All but one scarf are in garter stitch - nice and mindless.

I've also been doing cooking, including some very nice bread and sandwich rolls:

I found out about a cooking group at a library, and they moved online.  We had a meeting this week and everybody showed what we've made from our pantry.  I did a soup with lots of kale, because I got a bag of it at the farmstand last Saturday.  We didn't get to taste each other's cooking this time but we did have fun getting recipe ideas and talking about what we miss being able to cook.

Resolutions for May

I am one for two on the April resolutions, because I made the shawl but didn't finish my vest.  So first up will be to finish the "We Knit In Texas Y'All" vest.

For other items, I will finish the baby blanket I was going to do in March and hand off to friends to deliver.  Of course, all the travel stopped, so pressure to finish was off.  The baby is already in this world but the month that includes Mother's Day seems a good time to get it finished and shipped.

For a new item for me I think I will take a set of red yarns from one of the DFW Fiber Fest vendors and make a pair of socks.  With the colours I can do a very plain pattern and let the yarn be the energy.  My mother loves red, so it seems appropriate - and somewhere I think I have some red socks I was making for her.  I sent a Mother's Day gift so I don't need to make one for my mother, and my grandmother loved a box of soaps I'd sent to her, so I'm done with gifts for a while.

Music for May

A friend posted this challenge, which she'd gotten from her son:

She posted partway through April, and note it has a bonus challenge, so I decided to wait and start it on the first of May.  I'll post the dailies on Facebook and a summary list here each week or two.

Frugal Cookery for January (and bonus midcentury cookies)

As I said in my "Resolutions" post, I planned to cook at least one meal per month from one of my historical cookbooks.  We had a sleet/snow storm at the beginning of this week and it seemed the perfect time to try a menu, since I was working from home.

The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child, first published in 1829 as The Frugal Housewife, Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy, seems a fitting choice for January.  Mine is the commonly-available Dover reprint of the 1844 edition.

The book is not only a cookery book, and the majority is about general household economy, including "Simple Remedies" for various ailments and how to remake bonnets, clean brass, and get rid of ants.  She also tells how to choose meat and store vegetables, and an Appendix at the end includes additional items such as getting rid of ear wax, preserving various fruits, and something appropriate to my current weather:  "Icy Steps - Salt strewed upon the door-steps in winter will cause the ice to crack, so that it can be easily removed."  Two substantial sections are stories (really, moralizing lectures) about living economically, intriguing for their perspectives on the society of the day.

Browsing the main sections, I found this recipe:

A pound of fish per person sounds like quite a lot, but this is fish entire, with the bones and skin and fins and such.  Fillets would be about half that quantity, and I happened to have some salmon in the freezer that I thought would do, once the skin is removed.  In the interest of frugality and using my current pantry, the only item I needed to buy was a potato.

Fish chowder alone isn't a full meal, so I looked for a dessert.  In terms of simplicity, frugality, and midwinter-ness, a pudding seemed the best option.  Given that most of the puddings were boiled, and I've never done a boiled pudding, the one baked pudding was the answer.  Finally, to round out the meal further, some vegetable is in order.  Browsing that section, which speaks more of storage than cooking, I noticed a recipe for stewed tomatoes.  That may not sound practical in January, but I had put tomatoes by in the freezer during the summer when my CSA had them in plenty, and that seemed a nice, easy way to round out the meal.  Plus, the chowder recipe mentioned adding tomato catsup (the recipe she included, not the insipid sweet stuff available commercially today) so it sounded as if the tomatoes would be compatible.

First to be prepared is the pudding, as it takes longest - "three or four hours" - to bake.  I had a pint bottle of milk in the 'fridge from another recipe that didn't get made, so halved the ingredients - and made a few adjustments.

I do not have molasses in the pantry, and my supply of maple syrup (my usual go-to with corn porridges) is running a bit low.  However, preserves and jam can be used as sweetening; I have some recipes that call for it specifically.  After checking what I have, I selected some peach jam as it is on the runny side (no pectin used) and I thought would go well with the ginger.

Although we don't need to scald milk for safety since pasteurization became the norm, I did heat the milk to just below a simmer.  Then I stirred in three and a half tablespoons of cornmeal; a half-teaspoon of salt; and a heaping teaspoon of ground ginger.

How much jam to add?  I estimated that a teacup would hold 4-6 ounces of tea, so I added four tablespoons (two tablespoons to a liquid ounce).  I whisked everything in the pot, and then poured it into the enameled cast-iron casserole, which is a family item that was passed down to me a number of years ago, and seemed appropriate to use.

Stirring in salt and ginger; cornmeal
has already been added to the milk.

The jam fell under the surface quickly!

Oven at 300(F) and I went away for two hours.  I wasn't sure how long the chowder would take, but I guessed it would be about half the time that the pudding requires.  I decided to bake the chowder because of the "don't look" instruction.

Two hours later, beginning the chowder.  This time I was making a one-fourth recipe, since I had about a half-pound fillet, but given that there are no specific amounts in this recipe other than the meats (fish and salt pork) and crackers I went by guesswork.  I skinned the filet and cut it into pieces.  Having been frozen, it was somewhat soft, so I had some slices and some bits.  At least they get hidden in the course of the cooking!

Pantry ingredients, plus potato.

Salmon, thawed, beginning to slice.

For the salt pork I used three slices of bacon.  I fried it in a pot, then poured the grease into the bottom of a Pryex® casserole.  I thought if the layers were pretty, I'd get a side shot.  I followed the layering pretty much as instructed, using all of the onion and about three-quarters of the potato.  I'd guesstimated the packet of crackers would be equal to about one and one-half common crackers.

Fish on the bottom, then sliced onion,
potato slices, and cooked bacon.

Second set of layers, crackers more
visible this time.

Of course there is no quantity or proportion for the "flour and water", just to pour it to the top level of the contents of the dish.  I started with 3/4 cup of water and two tablespoons of flour.  Then I added another half-cup of water to bring it just to the top.

Peeking at the pudding.

Something I didn't photograph was adding a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar just before putting the chowder into the oven.  Why?  If you look at the recipe, she suggests a number of things to add flavour.  Lemons were $1.49 at the store, not very frugal!  I don't have homemade tomato catsup and didn't want to create it when I needed a most a quarter of a cup.  I don't have clams, and I didn't want to use beer since I wasn't doing anything with the rest of the bottle.  But vinegar often stands in when something tangy is wanted, and I do have that, so I thought I would add just a bit, about as much as one-fourth of a lemon.

I took a look at the pudding when I put the chowder into the oven.  It's hard to see in the photograph, but it is still somewhat runny, although medium-thick.  I would eat it at this stage for morning cereal.

A little under two hours later, I put the tomatoes (partially thawed because I had not taken them out very early) in the pot that still had a bit of the bacon grease in it.  Mrs. Child's recipe says to add butter, but I figured I would be frugal and use what there is.

So I heated the tomatoes and cooked off the water that separates out when you freeze and thaw tomatoes.  It's not a problem if you are turning them into sauce or another cooked preparation, and it meant I didn't add the recommended "spoonful of water, to keep them from burning".

After two hours of baking the potato slices in the chowder were soft, so I decided that dinner is ready to serve!

The pudding has an almost cakelike crust on the sides.
I am very glad that I thought to grease that casserole!

My opinion on the meal?  Tasty!  OK, the tomatoes were "meh" because they were just tomatoes.  After a couple of spoonfuls I added some Vulcan Fire Salt to amp the flavour.

The chowder was definitely a good item.  Unlike modern chowders which are soup this is a solid casserole of a dish.  The fish was not prominent, probably because I didn't have much of it.  The vinegar was just barely there, alleviating what could have been pasty-white blandness.  Ditto the bacon, which of course softened but added a bit of smokiness that might not have been present had I used uncured bacon or salt pork.  I could have chopped it into smaller bits and the bacon would have blended in better, but it was pretty good.  The crackers and flour-water dissolved to bind everything together silkily.

As for the pudding?  WOW.  I love Indian pudding and similar things anyway.  I can see why people serve it with thick cream, that would really have made it wonderful.  Even without anything on top it's still very good, with the ginger showing up on about the third spoonful.  There's no distinct taste of peach, the jam just added sweetness.

These left plenty of leftovers.  I heated up some of the pudding for breakfast today, and it's still light, not dense, with the ginger a bit more prominent.  I'm going to top it with some vanilla yoghurt to finish, and will heat up the chowder for lunch.

BONUS RECIPE:  I am in a couple of book clubs, and this month both are reading Hidden Figures.  I decided to make a recipe from a cookbook of about that era to serve as snacks, and selected "Gumdrop Cookies" from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book, Revised Edition © Meredith Publishing Company 1953, 1962:

Because this post is so long already, I am not going to add lots of photos of the process.  It was very straightforward because this is a modern recipe.  I halved the quantities and used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour because one club has some people who need to avoid gluten.  This made the cookies a bit more crumbly that the cookies might have been otherwise.  Also, I used butter because I didn't have shortening.   I used only the green gumdrops, because I thought it would be more palatable to keep to a single flavour, and I don't like green gumdrops.

After baking - firm, brown underneath but still light on top.

Verdict?  Surprisingly better than people anticipated.  The lime gumdrops blended well with the cocoanut in the cookies.  I waited a few minutes before removing the cookies from the baking trays, which helped keep them intact.  Even halved the recipe made a lot of cookies, because the dough was fairly stiff and I rolled balls instead of dropping the dough from a teaspoon.   It's hard to see but I made sure that each had a least one piece of gumdrop, you can see a bit of green in the cooky at the bottom.

Ten Soups

A friend of mine cross-blogs with someone who suggests topics on Tuesdays, and you have to list ten items that fit under that topic.  This week it was SOUPS and even though I didn't get it done yesterday, here are ten soups that I love:

1.  Italian wedding soup - love the little meatballs, the greens, and the pasta pearls.  Yes, the link is to a commercial canned soup, I get lazy for this one.

2.  Mushroom barley soup - an earthy soup, could be vegetarian but substantial enough for a winter meal.

3.  French onion soup, as long as it's not too oily.  I just love onions!

4.  Cabbage soup - not just boiled cabbage, but the sweet-and-sour type.  I probably have a taste for this from my Eastern European heritage.

5.  Tom Yung Goong - the Thai lemongrass soup that usually has chicken, may have tofu in a vegan version.  Tom Kai Gai, which uses cocoanut milk, is pretty good too.

6.  Chinese hot and sour soup is one of my go-tos when I have a cold.

7.  Almost any Japanese udon noodle soup.  Other ingredients depend upon the weather and my mood.  Sluuuuurp!!

8.  Speaking of weather, when it is hot I can eat (or drink?) gazpacho by the quart.

9.  Ditto borscht, which I can also take hot in the winter, especially if it has beef bits in it.  But in summer just the clear juices, with beet shreds in the bottom.  No sour cream, and not too sweet.

10.  Hard to decide what should be here.  My mother's lentil soup?  Chinese egg drop or Greek avgolemono?  I think it will have to be the chili my brother makes every Christmas eve.  Not quite the same as the one my father made when we were kids, but pretty good, especially with chunks of his homemade cornbread on the side.  No recipe, since everybody seems to have their own favourite.