Herbfest 2012

Saturday was Herbfest, which I found out about through a friend.  She was trying to organize a group to be there all day; I couldn't go until after class.  So I told her I would just go on my own.  I got there just as the morning's steady rain turned into a true gullywasher - and apparently just as the foraging class got to the edge of the woods.

When I decided to wade across the rushing walkway, since it looked as if the gullies would get washed for quite a while yet, I passed the two tents where farms sold plants.  Checked in, paying $5 and adding my nonperishable food items to the cartons by the door.  Was directed to the two classrooms, and got to the kitchen to find that everybody was just starting to straggle back from their morning swim.

As the students dried off and the teacher, Lynn Murdock, started to explain what they had managed to gather (and sent someone out to collect some nettles from the side of the barn, so that people could see what they looked like - the cutter was advised to hold a basket underneath and cut so that the pieces fell into it, to avoid touching the stinging hairs), Bun Lai of Miya's Sushi walked in.  He started cooking some of the greens, showed the class the multigrain sushi rice he had brought, and rolled up some sushi for us to try, integrating the clover, plantain, lamb's quarters, and dandelion greens.  While cooking, Bun and Lynn discussed sustainable eating, Bun's latest ventures in expanding the locavote options, and answered questions from the class.

You can see a picture of the finished sushi on Bun's blog - my friends Caryl and Bill are two of the smiling faces in the background, but I was too far back to make it into the shot.

After an abbreviated lunch break (because of the cooking time - but we had two or three bites of sushi, which tided me over for a bit) I went to the other building for the next two classes I wanted to take:  a class on Nutritional Herbs with Rosemari Roast followed by one on making tinctures with Debra Hultgren.  These two classes fit well together.  In the first one, I received a sample of dried nettle, about one day's worth if you drink the strong infusion that several teachers recommend.  It was interesting that when asked, the attendees defined "nutrition" in terms of "balance" and "organic" and "eat a variety of foods", only getting down to "vitamins" as the seventh or eighth thing on our list.  Apparently this is unusual even for persons interested in health and "Food as Medicine."

After the second class, I went back to see if there was anything else I wanted to buy, having done a speed-shop through the small vendor hall (a few vendors apparently couldn't make it in the torrents of the morning) and picked up some freeze-dried corn and peas .  I love these!  They make such a great snack.  You can see the total of my shopping here:

OK, the knitting piled up at the bottom is not a new purchase.  It was the auto-knitting I took to work on during classes when I wasn't taking notes.  It will be a basic variation on the Steppe Sweater for Mittens for Akkol's tween collection, Patons Classic Wool doubled on US#10.5 needles.  I started after my morning class (the bit I did in class was too wide, frogged and restarted) so the 7" shown here was only the Herbfest knitting.  Yes, it's a very easy pattern to follow!  Just plain knitting.

Specifics about my purchases are:

A "Got Organic" clay-dyed T-shirt, a rosemary flaxseed-filled muscle warming pad (microwave briefly, apply to sore or tense area, repeat as needed), a pair of beesewax candles, and a small bar of beeswax.  Sewers know about the benefit of waxing thread that will be used in high-stress areas, such as buttons, for added strength.  I've wanted a clay-dyed T-shirt since seeing some in a store on my family's trip through the Southwest last year, and not wanting to promote a specific company.  This one is perfect!

You can see the peas and corn in this photo, plus the bag of dried nettles from my afternoon class.  Also showing are four bars of soap:  Chocolate and Coffee, which will be gifts for my SIL, and Ginger-Lemon and Rosemary-Sage for me.

The baskets were made by a women's cooperative in Vietnam, and were on clear-out by the vendor.  He said that they had closed their shop and he was tired of paying inventory tax.  I bought one whole set, and the remaining baskets from a set that was broken.  They are very smooth inside, and will be handy for storing and organzing things.

Two items are not in the photo:  lemon balm and may apple.  I bought live plants and put them in the ground as soon as I got home.  The rain had stopped and the earth was of course very soft and wet, perfect for setting the plents.  Both of these (I am completely unfamiliar with may apple) are supposed to grow well in shade, and that is mostly what my property has (and why I can't grow more of the herbs that I love and wish I could have on hand, as I did in Texas).  We shall see!

Memorial Day 2012

I find that other than a parade that seems more about children - scout troops, local bands, various sports teams - than the soldiers, in most areas Memorial Day has turned into just a day off from work, nothing terribly special, maybe the inevitable sales and the opening of summer season for pools and barbeques.

We were lucky in my family.  Nobody who served failed to come back.  But there are lots of families who are not so lucky, even in the last week.  Soldiers go away, and there's no way to know until they do or don't whether they will come back.

There is a famous and very short poem called "In Flanders Fields" which is the source of the poppies that used to spring up like spring flowers this time of year.  I remember buying them when I was a child and wearing them proudly, sometimes a small bouquet of them because I didn't want to pass by anybody who was selling one.

I remember my great-grandmother buying poppies when I was very small, telling me that we bought them to remember and honor the soldiers who had fought and died for our freedoms.  I remember seeing the old men, many still fitting in their uniforms, others wearing whatever part of the uniform still fit, selling the poppies on street corners, in front of grocery stores, all over town in the week or two before Memorial Day.

You don't see them as much anymore.  The number of old soldiers in the parades is dwindling.  Gone are the ones from World War I, "The War to End All Wars."  We are losing those from World War II, "The War After That."  And the Korean War.  Age is taking them from us.

We are also losing those from the Vietnam War, some due to age and some due to mental and other wounds that were not imagined in the earlier wars.  I don't remember that war, but I remember reading about the returning soldiers being spit upon and shunned, and even as an adult not understanding why that could be.  These were soldiers who fought to preserve freedom.  Whatever else you think of them, or their war, they did not deserve to return to hatred.  Maybe sadness, maybe other reactions, but not a hatred that made them wonder why they had enlisted to serve this country.

And now we have other wars:  Gulf War.  Afghanistan.  Iraq.   Other sandy places.    And we have different injuries, and different deaths.  Soldiers come home surviving injuries that would have killed them in an earlier war.  Internal injuries, physical and emotional, that are also new to this age of IEDs and children as shields and the propaganda that tells our soldiers that the people they think they are saving, hate and want to kill them.

On Memorial Day we are supposed to remember and honour our war dead - any war, and no matter how they died.  We should also remember and honour the living, who served and should know how we appreciate it before all we can do is stick a flag into the ground in front of their headstone or another memorial location, and salute it.  These are people who risked their lives every day, who committed to risk their lives, often for people they don't know, and who sometimes hate them.  To serve a country that sometimes dishonored them and the flag they swore to follow.

Remember our military.  Thank them.  Honor them.

Whether you agree with the reason for the fight, remember that these are the people who committed to the fight, who ignored their fear and sometimes walked into death, or horrific injuries, because it was their job to do so.  If nothing else, honour their bravery.

My family came to this country to enjoy the freedoms our military helped obtain and preserve for us.  I will always love and honor and respect and appreciate them for that.

Two Movies and a Shawl

Continuing from the previous post:

After knitting eight sweaters plus test-knitting some mittens, I wanted to make something for ME.  So I did this: It took a bit under a week to do.  The pattern is a only-found-by-Wayback-Machine shawl pattern for a discontinued Crystal Palace yarn called "Merino Stripes." I used a dollar-a-ball no-name yarn I found at AC Moore, which I thought was fun. You can't see how it sparkles, but the closeup does show a few of the sequins that are contained in the yarn. The background is almost charcoal grey, twisted with a thread that shades as you see between sea green and light teal. VERY pretty, and I had just enough to make a shawl to fit me.

I finished while getting my hair cut, and gave the remaining partial ball to the stylist.  She also crafts and crochets and I know she will find a good use for it.  She really likes the shawl.

I don't need to figure out what to do next, because I have two baby blankets to finish.  I frogged one of the items I started because I didn't like how it looked, and I am trying to figure out what to do with some other yarn that I'd like to use but isn't speaking to me properly.  I did start another charity item, a baby blanket that will end up in Kazahkstan, just to have something to do during my bible class and other congregational events where I think charity work will be less objectionable.

I did get to see movies this week.  How I fit them in, I'm not quite sure!

On Tuesday it was "Science on Screen" and we saw "The Time Machine" which was followed by a talk from a physicist.  On Wednesday an evening meeting cancelled and I was able to use a free pass to see "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" which I really enjoyed.  Although some of the plot points were predictable, watching that cast perform was a joy, and there were enough points NOT predictable to make the time fly.

Finally, on Friday I saw "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" - again some predictable points (and one completely implausable reappearance) but very enjoyable.  So that's technically three movies - but I counted only the new ones for my title.  "Science on Screen" I see as much for the science as anything.  Y'all know I'm geeky that way.

Now to pack my crocheting - I have a week where I am in three other states on various days, starting later today.  It does allow me a semi-surprise visit to my parents for Mother's Day.

To all the mothers out there - enjoy your day, and thank you!

Eight Sweaters, Two Movies, and a Shawl

I've been busy, not just with work but also meeting a knitting deadline for Mittens for Akkol, which does a big project every spring.  One of the founders makes a trip with sets of warm woollies for each graduate of their independent living program.  Each graduate gets to choose three colours and the knitters make a sweater, hat, scarf, mittens, and two pairs of socks for each graduate, plus a few extras in case someone wasn't there on measuring day.
Since I find sweaters easier to do, with the big swaths of repetitive knitting that works well for conference calls, meetings, and traveling, I signed up for several and ended up knitting these:



As you can see, I did a number of styles, partly to keep my interest and partly to try new things and partly so the grads wouldn't feel that their sweaters were cranked out.  Although it felt a bit that way at the end!  Even when I used the same basic pattern, as on the two cardigans, I did enough variation that I don't think they look the same.  And I tried to organize the pictures a little better, but am giving up at this point.

The purple-acid yellow-aqua one was fun to do, in part ot incorporate the colours.  It's one of the "extra" sets and when someone said she was knitting mittens, hat, and scarf with the yellow, I remembered that I had some in stash and was wondering what to do.  It went very well with the other colours, I think.  The basic style is the same as the purple-turquoise-black one.

Seven of the sweaters are for girls, one for a boy - yes, it's the solid-colour gansey.  All are wool or wool-alpaca, because it is COLD in Kazahkstan.  I knit most with doubled yarn, partly for speed and partly for warmth.

In addition, I found a wool hat (handspun and handdyed yarn) that I send, and was asked to test-knit some mittens for their fundraising pattern book.  After I finished them, I combined leftover purple alpaca-wool with the remaining handdyed yarn used for the mittens, and made a matching hat:












After all that was done, I had a bit of startitis.  And I wanted to make something for ME as a reward for all those sweaters.  So I knit a shawl.  Apparently this post has as many pictures as I can include, so I will have to tell you about the shawl separately.

St. Patrick's Day cookery

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit - Happy St. Patrick's Day to You!

It has been a long time since I wrote the blog.  I've been busy, but that's not much excuse.  I am going to try to write at least weekly.  I also finally restarted my Examiner.com column, celebrating "Pi Day" earlier this week and today writing a long article on Irish food and drink.   To show that I really do cook what I write about, I thought I would write up what I prepared today.

The soda bread was made for lunchtime, since I have a class on Saturdays and we get food there.  Although you should let soda bread rest a bit after it comes out of the oven, as you can see I wasn't very patient:

My recipe was simple:  One cup of unbleached flour, a half-cup of whole wheat flour, and a half cup of oat flour made by buzzing American oatmeal in a grinder, to which I added a half-teaspoon each of baking soda and baking powder.  While the last isn't traditional if you use buttermilk, I didn't have that so was using evaporated milk, and without the chemical reaction of the buttermilk with the soda, you need to add a bit of baking powder.  As noted, I then added about five ounces of milk, until I achieved a soft dough.  Carefully patting it into a round, I made a deeply slashed cross in the top and baked it at 400(F) for about forty minutes.

While it baked, I had an onion in its skin in a small pan with some water, also baking.  When I took the bread out I added a bit more water and let the onion finish roasting until it was quite soft inside.  It was easy to reheat at suppertime.

For the main course, I made potato cakes, or "boxty", with smoked fish.  To do this I created mashed potatoes with about ten ounces of potatoes, some chopped garlic scapes, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and about an ounce of butter.  When it was all nicely beaten, I added a third of a cup of unbleached flour and an egg.  it was a bit soft so I just dropped scoops into hot butter and fried them on both sides until done.

 

As you can see, I have some Irish butter that I used to fry the potato cakes.  It also went onto the soda bread.  The fish were small chubs, and the flaked meat warmed nicely on the hot cakes.  Then I sauteed some kale and cabbage together for a side dish, and here is the finished supper:

If you think the amount of flaked fish looks like less than two fishes worth, it is.  I mixed the rest of the flaked fish into the remaining potato mixture and created two fishcakes.  These I fried and put into the refrigerator with the remaining greens and half the onion - tomorrow's meal is ready to heat!

Very, very yummy.  I didn't make any of the dessert recipes in my article, but with all this I don't need any.

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.

My New Year's Shawl

It has become my habit, recently, to call the week between Christmas and New Year's my "Week of Selfish Knitting."  I do a lot of knitting and crocheting for others - this week is supposed to be items for ME, in part to mollify my grandmother and others who think that I do need to make things for myself.

(This does not stop my grandmother from raving about whatever I have made for her.  Her catchphrase this year is "the stole stole the show!" and almost daily we hear about someone else "fainting over it" when she goes down to supper.  My grandmother freely admits to wearing it with one tail hanging down her back so that people can see it, to show it off more.  My grandmother is nothing if not dramatic.)

When I made the Sweet Pea shawl for my friend Jenna, I liked it.  The pattern is kind of fun, it comes out huge, and worked up fast.  I thought about making one for myself.  Then, after I had cast on this shawl as my "selfish knitting," out of a hank of Brooks Farm's Duet yarn on the day after Christmas and worked on it fairly steadily through the week:

....I found exactly three balls of Bamboo Ewe, the yarn Jenna had given me for her shawl, in a pretty blue on sale at AC Moore.  I remembered that Jenna's shawl had taken a bit under three balls for the main part.  And I had a $10 certificate to spend, that would cover the purchase with a bit to spare.  Luckily, I needed one item to finish Eina's project, so - as my SIL would say, "Meant To Be!"

The colour is "Twilight," the hook is a US I-9, and I slipped the naked ball and hook into my pocket when I went out for First Night, knowing I would have some time while checking wristbands to get a bit of crocheting done.  Which I did:

You know how people wake up on New Year's Day with hangovers?  I woke up and found an error.  So I had to frog back and restart a row (yes, the above shows more than one row), and by the end of the day, with other things happening, I had achieved this:

I was already into the second ball.  At this rate, the shawl would be done quickly.  And thanks to having January 2nd off work as the official first holiday of the year, this much was done:

I continued the speed of a new ball each day.  It does help that the rows get shorter and shorter.  My friend Jenna told me to "stop speeding!" but crocheting does go fast!

Then work started, and I did slow down a bit.  I also had a problem - I was going to run out of yarn!  I'd added a repeat, since I wasn't going to add fringe (I do NOT like fringe) and thought I might have enough yarn.  No, by inches:

That knot is just short of the final scallop.  Happily, on the way to my knitting group's weekly get-together on Wednesday night, I was able to find one more ball at a store on the way, which was not only the same colour but the same dyelot!  How magical is that?

Also fun is that when I told the salesclerk what I was doing, she seemed interested so I brought in the shawl and showed her.  The clerk said that they don't often get to see the finished items, and she really appreciated the opportunity to do so.

I decided that since I had a nearly full ball of yarn left, I would add a border.  This took longer than I'd hoped, because I needed to adjust the spacing so that the scallops hit the bottom on top of the shell below, and ended at each side tip.  With a bit of ripping, adjusting, and muttering, I was done and on Friday morning, after the sun came out, I spread the shawl on my livingroom floor to photograph:

Complete with a closeup of the edging and stitch pattern:

Then I made sure that the ends were run in and finished, and wore it out that night.  Got a lot of compliments!  I am sooooo happy with it.

The other shawl does continue.  It doesn't look too much bigger, because of being squished onto a circular needle due to the number of stitches:

The center length is now 15" and there's still quite a lot of the yarn to go!  Luckily it fits into my purse so I can carry it and work on it whenever.  I no longer have the "selfish knitting" obligation, but I am definitely going to get this finished before I go to DFW Fiber Fest in March.  I did get my registration sent in before the New Year, thus classes at a discount.  One is a crocheting class that sounded interesting, the other an all-day class on knitting lace with beads.  I've got the concept but not the expertise, and thought it would be a skill to learn, especially as I keep making shawls.