tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101298532024-03-13T15:42:50.518-05:00Four Obsessions: perpetually shifting between cooking, reading, knitting and writingA place for friends and fellow obsessors to gatherKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.comBlogger647125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-45894737736353020082021-01-03T10:12:00.006-05:002021-01-03T15:36:31.539-05:00My god of books<p>I believe in a god of books. This belief rests side by side with my devout atheism, illogical and yet true.</p><p>My god of books is a cranky god, with a heart in the right place. They are genderfluid--shifting their appearance between a woman and a man when they come to me. They are always wearing a soft, old favorite cardigan. They are old, hair graying, reading glasses perched on their nose, and eyes that also shift color--sometimes icy blue, sometimes a warm brown, sometimes an indeterminate hazel--depending on their mood and their opinion of me.</p><p>Yes, they have opinions of me. Sometimes they judge me harshly. Sometimes they see me with kindness. Sometimes they like to watch me squirm, not able to find anything to read that satisfies what I need from words. Then they will send me a generous burst and the books I most need to get through the day will arrive one after another after another. These are the blessings I receive from my god of books. This past year, it was <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51045613-deacon-king-kong?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=MwoH8aVWzA&rank=1">Deacon King Kong</a>, then <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50732671-apeirogon?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=44kFTu3Xnr&rank=1">Apeirogon</a>, then <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43721059-the-night-watchman?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=k7zNNHKjCb&rank=1">The Night Watchman</a>, and then <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43890641-hamnet?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=mYO9EOV2gz&rank=1">Hamnet</a> which arrived in a succession that felt like an intervention, to give my brain a reprieve from all the worry and fear that this world has thrown at us this year. I received them like a life preserver thrown to someone drowning. I can't imagine having functioned through those months without them. Some people read to understand themselves better. I do not. I read to escape myself because I think I understand myself a little too well. </p><p>There are days when I would do anything to escape being me. And reading can do that--like a parasite I can latch onto someone else's thoughts and imagine the world looking out of someone else's bony eye sockets, such a relief after being trapped for most hours of most days looking out from my own. </p><p>My god of books often does not care if I am uncomfortable. They withhold as often as they gift. I pick up and read the first chapters of one, two, three, four, five books and nothing takes. I put the book down and I am still me. I mutter incantations, I restlessly read book reviews, I keep my ear to the ground for recommendations--messages from my god of books--that I am supposed to follow. My husband has learned to recognize these times: I am squirrely and restless and prone to irritation. </p><p>Sometimes re-reading a book will work. I don't know how I would have survived adolescence without my annual re-read of Steinbeck's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4406.East_of_Eden?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=WOJ3whGNFs&rank=1">East of Eden</a>; I read it for the first time when I was about 12 and I am certain that it was a gift from my god of books, a time when they looked at my squirming, prickly, uncomfortable being and put the tome in my hands, saying, "Try this. I think this is the book you need." I wore out two copies of that book.</p><p>And sometimes re-reading doesn't cut it. This year I tried to escape into known good books and it rarely worked. The world was too cockeyed and I had the discordant sensation of sitting with my previous self and how I would have read the book before all the crises of the year rained down one after another. I was too envious of my previous self and thus, the known books could not whisk me away. Among those books that were pulled off the shelf with hope and then re-shelved were beautiful works like <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17332243-hild?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=CIuy4e4dWt&rank=1">Hild</a> by Nicola Griffith, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14316.Black_Swan_Green?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=vf49YKxcDa&rank=1">Black Swan Green</a> by David Mitchell, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1474628.The_Monsters_of_Templeton?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=ofd3rTClyb&rank=1">The Monsters of Templeton</a> by Lauren Groff and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/137796.The_Welsh_Girl?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=MeZf6dZnxq&rank=1">The Welsh Girl</a> by Peter Ho Davies. I felt my god of books watching and tapping their foot. The books didn't fail me; I failed the books. </p><p>Sometimes my god of books gives me permission to stop thinking big thoughts, to go relax into a comforting mystery like settling into a warm bath and just feel soothed for a while. Or, with a mischievous twinkle, they'll guide me to a book that makes me laugh out loud. Or send me on an escape to another planet to think about what it would be like to be an augmented human for a while. I am very grateful that my god of books is not a snob.</p><p>The latest evidence of this god's existence happened this morning. Yesterday evening I finished listening to the audio book of Ann Patchett's latest novel, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44318414-the-dutch-house?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=1JZDrFcTAp&rank=1">The Dutch House</a>, read by Tom Hanks. And then, this morning I found this <a href="https://harpers.org/archive/2021/01/these-precious-days-ann-patchett-psilocybin-tom-hanks-sooki-raphael/">amazing essay</a> in Harper's written by Patchett about her link to Tom Hanks and what that link ended up gifting her in 2020. I cried when I read the essay, it's that beautiful. And there is simply no way to put down my discovery of the essay to chance: that was my god of books nudging a little something into my hands so I could start the year feeling the magic of existence again, refreshing and refilling my dried up supply of hope.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-44429816963561885092020-10-13T06:07:00.001-05:002020-10-13T06:08:18.619-05:0026 blobs of future happiness<p>I have a new favorite cookie recipe. I realize this isn't ground breaking news, but it is comforting as hell and right now, with the world careening toward the abyss, I'll take what I can get. And while they aren't exactly good for you (2 sticks of butter and a lot of brown sugar in a batch that makes about 2 dozen large cookies) neither are they as bad for you as my previous favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe which had no redeeming nutritional value. These are stuffed full of nuts and seeds and whole grains, yet don't taste at all "healthy." There are pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, coconut, spelt flour and oats packed in there (along with the aforementioned butter and sugar and a generous quantity of chocolate.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eOmvjK3Ytg0/X4SqZJmI8uI/AAAAAAAAjpg/XzaJcMVu7-MKOzlI14RJYoUyTbveTK3-gCPcBGAsYHg/s4096/IMG_20201012_150841943.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4096" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eOmvjK3Ytg0/X4SqZJmI8uI/AAAAAAAAjpg/XzaJcMVu7-MKOzlI14RJYoUyTbveTK3-gCPcBGAsYHg/s320/IMG_20201012_150841943.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cookie glamour shot</div><p>My version comes from this base recipe for <a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/anytime-chocolate-chip-and-oat-cookies">Anytime Chocolate Chip and Oat Cookies</a> though I made a few tweaks to suit my tastes. The base recipe is very flexible with lots of possible substitutions in the nuts/seeds/whole grains department that I imagine yield a wide spectrum of different tastes and textures. While I intend to do some experimenting--I'm thinking of trying a batch with buckwheat flour, walnuts and sunflower seeds--I'm sure that it would produce a very different cookie. The recipe at the end of this post is a winning combination that has been validated by my 17 year-old (who ate an insane number of these) and a group of friends who gave them the thumbs up. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HPZweorijnI/X4SB-tKS1xI/AAAAAAAAjoM/hbK6VpAX7cU99rZP1La7-XCILTF-CnFJACPcBGAsYHg/s4096/IMG_20201004_140923168_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4096" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HPZweorijnI/X4SB-tKS1xI/AAAAAAAAjoM/hbK6VpAX7cU99rZP1La7-XCILTF-CnFJACPcBGAsYHg/w400-h300/IMG_20201004_140923168_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">This cookie took a trip to Lake Michigan and made a delightful pairing with a Honeycrisp apple</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">They are the kind of cookie that you don't make in the moment when you desperately need a cookie to keep your sanity because they take a little time, first resting the dough in the fridge before scooping and then freezing the scooped cookies until solid. They bake up to the best texture when they go directly from the freezer to the oven. I made one tray with refrigerated dough and they spread a lot more, still tasty, but less chewy. But the positive side of all this resting and waiting is that you can have a supply in the freezer which promises fast future happiness: 10 minute to preheat your oven + 16 minutes bake time and you have my idea of heaven in a cookie.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NH0rOrtoics/X4RoCmu6XLI/AAAAAAAAjn0/jUrY7cpPqxslCWzKj6IHOsLJ36LYXzmfACPcBGAsYHg/s4096/IMG_20201012_102042628.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4096" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NH0rOrtoics/X4RoCmu6XLI/AAAAAAAAjn0/jUrY7cpPqxslCWzKj6IHOsLJ36LYXzmfACPcBGAsYHg/w400-h300/IMG_20201012_102042628.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ready for the freezer: 26 blobs of future happiness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Nutty Seedy Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies<br /></b><i>makes about 2 dozen large cookies</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter</div><div style="text-align: left;">1/2 C chopped pecans<br />1/4 C raw pumpkin seeds<br />1/4 C raw sunflower seeds<br />1T whole flax seeds<br />1T whole sesame seeds</div><div style="text-align: left;">1/4 C unsweetened flaked coconut<br />1 C (125 g) all-purpose flour<br />2/3 C (83 g) spelt flour (or swap in whole wheat)<br />1 t kosher salt<br />1 1/4 t baking soda<br />1 1/2 C (300 g) light brown sugar<br />2 large eggs<br />1 T vanilla<br />8 oz chocolate chips (I like the Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips because they are a little bigger and a little more bitter than regular chocolate chips)<br />1 C old fashioned oats</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Brown your butter. Melt butter over medium-low heat and patiently wait until it turns golden brown and nutty smelling. Remove from heat and cool slightly (you can dump it in the bowl with the brown sugar if you are worried about it overbrowning in the pan). And if browning butter is among your least favorite things to do then you can just melt it. I made one batch with melted, not browned, butter and they were excellent cookies, just not quite as amazing as the browned butter ones.</li><li>Toast your nuts and seeds. I do this in the toaster oven but a regular oven is fine. Preheat to 325, line a tray with parchment and spread out the pecans and toast for 6 minutes until fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool (I pick up the edges of the parchment, slide off the nuts and then reuse the parchment for the next step). Spread out the pumpkin, sunflower, flax, and sesame seeds and the coconut on the parchment and bake for about 5 minutes until the coconut is golden. Transfer to the same plate as the nuts and cool. </li><li>In a small bowl, mix together all purpose and spelt (or whole wheat) flours, salt and baking soda.</li><li>In a large bowl measure out your brown sugar and add your slightly cooled browned (or melted) butter. Mix on high until it is thick and smooth. Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix on high until it is pale and silky smooth. </li><li>Add the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. Fold in the nuts/seeds/coconut mixture. Then stir in the chocolate chips and oats until everything is evenly distributed. </li><li>Cover the bowl and chill the dough in the fridge for a few hours (or over night) so it firms up and is scoopable.</li><li>Scoop the chilled dough (I use an ice cream scoop) into blobs (about 2T sized) and place close together on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze for about an hour and then either bake a batch or pop them into a freezer bag and feel the delightful security that you have a stash of amazing cookie blobs ready to go when things get dire.</li><li>When you decide to bake: preheat the oven to 350 and place about 8 cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet; they will spread so give them space. Bake for 8 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for 8 more until deeply golden at the edges but still a little squishy in the middle. Cool on the baking sheet.</li></ol></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-47163110574535356152020-08-18T08:47:00.002-05:002020-08-18T08:53:57.203-05:00August<p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xECyOyQwXR0/XzvW3JOrMCI/AAAAAAAAig0/hJOVD_CD9q8yrwYU_XgEKRRNnOUB9lzEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/august.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xECyOyQwXR0/XzvW3JOrMCI/AAAAAAAAig0/hJOVD_CD9q8yrwYU_XgEKRRNnOUB9lzEQCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h384/august.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I was away for a few days and this was this morning's haul from the garden</span>: two zucchini, a bag of wax and romano beans, dill, chard, lots of tomatoes (green zebra, carmelo, brandywine and a container full of sungold cherry), one green and two red peppers, and a bundle of sunflowers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is what August looks like around here and I could not be happier. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the old tradition of my <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/search/label/CSA">CSA hauls</a>, here's what I plan to do with some of it:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.alstedefarms.com/recipe/chard-wrapped-greek-yogurt-pies/">chard wrapped greek yogurt pies</a> (also uses the dill)</li><li><a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/grilled-naan-with-tomatoes">grilled naan and tomato party</a> (probably served with this excellent Indian <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2008/10/happy-halloween.html">chicken curry with potatoes</a>)</li><li><a href="https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/slow-roasted-tomatoes/">slow roasted cherry tomatoes</a> (I've already made two batches: they freeze well)</li><li><a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2006/09/timely-post.html">calabacitas</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/greek-green-beans-fasolakia/">slow cooked Greek green beans</a> (fasolakia) to eat with pork souvlaki</li><li>if there are any tomatoes left after our snacking, I'll probably make a batch of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CD4qgwJg8Sl/">this gazpacho</a> </li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-47914195188455847672020-08-09T18:07:00.006-05:002020-08-11T16:56:42.191-05:00Dessert for breakfast and other things of joy in this absurdly stressful time<p> </p>The world is a shit-show so let's all tear our eyes away from the news and latest catastrophe and share a few things that bring us joy. There should be a little something for most people who find their way to this blog. Please chime in in the comments if you have suggestions for things that are getting you through because I could use as much joy as I can drag over the threshold.<div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Culinary Joys</span></b></h3><div><b>Fruit Desserts for Breakfast</b></div><div>Based on what I've been eating this month, it might be hard to believe that I don't really have a sweet tooth. I do, however, love the process of baking and I love summer desserts that are made from fruit whose season is fleeting. One of the benefits of having picky eater kids (yes, still...) is that there is usually left-over dessert that I can enjoy for breakfast. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lately, I've made these three recipes and they are all freaking fantastic as dessert but also can be enjoyed the next morning for breakfast:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YT-Sw6VTwIc/XzBfOvmwS9I/AAAAAAAAiIM/Aa3br2ZZOAA99yjRnxZegHI2zn3c2tLpwCPcBGAsYHg/s4096/IMG_20200726_072539635.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4096" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YT-Sw6VTwIc/XzBfOvmwS9I/AAAAAAAAiIM/Aa3br2ZZOAA99yjRnxZegHI2zn3c2tLpwCPcBGAsYHg/w512-h384/IMG_20200726_072539635.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jul/04/tater-tots-blueberry-cream-cheese-pie-lamb-enchilada-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi-fourth-of-july?fbclid=IwAR1eU7HXEKAIrDZjLxwDVfZkGoI23zkF69NLEsgneVp1PagNuELJYtNmS8o">Blueberry Cream Cheese Galette</a></div><div>(scroll down to the third recipe in the linked article)</div><div>The only change I made was to use my own single pie crust recipe and I put all the crushed blueberry mixture on the cream cheese to bake while the original recipe reserves half to have a mix of raw and cooked (why? I have no idea. The raw squished berries looked kind of gloppy and unappealing so I just tossed it all on the cream cheese layer.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DKlVdu5qMsI/XzBfG2aodbI/AAAAAAAAiII/bdlQXqSjTpQ96XvKXimT3QuoK_gs58qIwCPcBGAsYHg/s4096/IMG_20200729_193043697.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4096" data-original-width="3072" height="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DKlVdu5qMsI/XzBfG2aodbI/AAAAAAAAiII/bdlQXqSjTpQ96XvKXimT3QuoK_gs58qIwCPcBGAsYHg/w384-h512/IMG_20200729_193043697.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div><a href="https://www.davidlebovitz.com/texas-peach-cobbler-hill-country-recipe-fruit-recipe-peaches/?fbclid=IwAR0_2-BtkBrLwjcEOGRVf7PfJFRzsXG0TzHoawb0iXA6FrZLQgUWWhfEUb8">Texas Peach Cobbler</a></div><div>I used more peaches than the recipe called for, about 4 cups sliced, and I didn't peel them. I also served it with heavy cream rather than ice cream. Brown butter, peaches, cream, and absurdly easy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-top: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4096" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B3Uqf98ahCs/XzBe-0_Qi3I/AAAAAAAAiIE/pXTvHnwouw44jThKXdvGH9BQFQ5CTmdIACPcBGAsYHg/w512-h384/IMG_20200807_062954868.jpg" width="512" /></span></div><div><a href="https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/almond-cake?fbclid=IwAR1jI0lsHig7eVtacW37H88Fl6EaFIHz5FTyvE8NMuBAIZiU07rhPdoQP5I">Italian Lemon Almond Cake</a> with Honey Lemon Peaches and Honey Whipped Cream</div><div>I followed this gluten-free recipe to a T and added my own spin by serving it with diced peaches that had 1/2 a lemon squeezed over them and a spoonful of honey stirred in and about a cup of heavy cream whipped up with another spoonful of honey.</div><div><br /></div><div>(For those of you thinking, "Wait, this is the only recipe that's gluten free but not that long ago Kate said she was avoiding gluten," well, I have an update on that at the end of this post.)*</div><div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Visual Joys</span></b></h3>I use Instagram differently from any other form of social media: it is where I curate my retreat from the world so there's a lot of joy there and not a lot of news. I follow recipe developers and knitting designers and people who post beautiful photos of far away places that allow me to dream of traveling again someday. Lately, I've been following lots of illustrators and two in particular have on-going projects that I look forward to and which bring me joy.<br /><br /><b>Watching a cephalopod poster come to life by artist <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kelzuki/" target="_blank">Kelsey Oseid</a> (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kelzuki/">@kelzuki</a>)</b><div>Kelsey Oseid started a project last week to draw and paint 31 creatures from the order Cephalopoda (that's right! Octopuses, squids, cuttlefish, nautiluses!) to create one of her beautiful "Creatures of the Order" posters. It is simply magical to watch a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDo0fR5MaEf/">sped up time-lapse video of a strawberry squid</a> come to life. I already own a print of her <a href="https://kelzuki.com/shop/creatures-of-the-infraorder-cetacea" target="_blank">Creatures of the Infraorder Cetacea</a> (whales and dolphins) and am looking forward to purchasing a companion print when she completes this one. <div> </div></div></div><div><b>Transmundane Tuesdays prompts by </b><b>artist <a href="https://www.instagram.com/carsonellis/">Carson Ellis</a> and the resulting submissions</b></div><div>Artist and illustrator Carson Ellis posts a prompt made up of 3 random phrases on a Tuesday and then people submit their creations. The results are absolutely stunning and create such a sense of shared humanity: there are professional artists who submit, there are little kids, there is everyone in between. I look forward to her curated display of the previous week's prompts and am contemplating becoming more than just an observer and trying my hand at it even though words, rather than visual art mediums, are more my thing. This week's prompts were: 1. has a long beard 2. has butterfly wings 3. wearing glasses. The prompts always surprise and send my mind down myriad paths that aren't our current reality. One of my past favorite weeks was 1. is a baby 2. is made out of mud 3. is wearing a helmet. You can follow her feed <a href="https://www.instagram.com/carsonellis/">@carsonellis</a> where she has stories featuring some of her favorites of the week's submissions, follow the hashtag <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/transmundanetuesdays/">#transmundanetuesdays</a> where all the submissions for all of the weeks reside or follow a tag for each individual week: this week's <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/beardedandwingedinglasses/">#beardedandwingedinglasses</a> has some absolutely stunning works in there (a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDgUFZuBmin/">papercut</a>! an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDj57T3nDlj/">embroidery</a>! one that is made, I kid you not, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDfEpQ_JUv5/">entirely from pressed flowers</a>!)</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Literary Joys</span></b></h3><div>I've read a string of amazing books lately that have been balm to my soul in very different ways. If you are looking for some fiction to get you out of your present reality, maybe one of these will also appeal to you. I think all will make it onto my "best books of the year" list:</div><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51045613-deacon-king-kong">Deacon King Kong</a> by James McBride<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43721059-the-night-watchman">The Night Watchman</a> by Louise Erdrich<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43890641-hamnet">Hamnet</a> by Maggie O'Farrell<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50732671-apeirogon">Apeirogon</a> by Colum McCann<div><br /></div><div>My reviews are posted both on my <a href="https://booksread2018.weebly.com/">Books Read in 2020</a> page and on my <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/18615324-kate?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=read&sort=date_added">Goodreads account</a>.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Fiber Joys</span></h3><div>I'm knitting two sweaters right now that bring me great pleasure: not only are the patterns well-written, but the two yarns I'm using are so different and both so lovely.</div><div><br /></div><div>First up is the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wave-of-change-jacket">Wave of Change Jacket</a> by <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/designers/denise-bayron">Denise Bayron</a> that I'm knitting in a linen tape yarn called Kestrel. Linen isn't the easiest fiber to knit with because it has little to no stretch (I likened the last time I knit with linen to the sensation of knitting with dental floss...) but this tape yarn is way better: the construction means that there is a little bit of give to it and the pattern uses big enough needles that it won't be an endless project (I still have a linen t-shirt that I started 3 years ago and didn't finish--fine yarn, little needles and just really not enjoying the process. I'll finish it someday, but not someday soon!) The linen is cool in my hands on a hot day and has a lovely sheen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a picture of the stunning designer wearing her linen version (the pattern is also written for chunky wool and my friend Carol is making a version so I'll get to see my jacket's winter sibling!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3GB3K9RW4X8/XzBmmav_rsI/AAAAAAAAiI0/Kh1dIPBoioQQD6kMC0J0Cp4aZJp6dw7XACLcBGAsYHQ/s376/wave.PNG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3GB3K9RW4X8/XzBmmav_rsI/AAAAAAAAiI0/Kh1dIPBoioQQD6kMC0J0Cp4aZJp6dw7XACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/wave.PNG" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>And I also just cast on to make this <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bronwyn-6">Bronwyn</a> sweater:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NEU72axErxI/XzBjrmcthEI/AAAAAAAAiIk/JbBc8O0u8e8ug3yA1heAFFEoJRxQpoQmACLcBGAsYHQ/s413/bronwyn.PNG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="413" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NEU72axErxI/XzBjrmcthEI/AAAAAAAAiIk/JbBc8O0u8e8ug3yA1heAFFEoJRxQpoQmACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/bronwyn.PNG" /></a></div>I'm using different yarn than what is called for in the pattern, Kelbourne Woolens Germantown in the color Natural; it's less expensive than the yarn pictured above and has really lovely stitch definition that should make the cables pop! I'm thinking of this as practice since one of my kids requested that I make them a version of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-and-off-the-avenue/the-curious-case-of-chris-evanss-sweater">Chris Evans' Aran sweater</a> from the film Knives Out (the link takes you to a New Yorker article that discusses said sweater. Yes, it is a phenomenon). I found <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/honeycomb-aran">this pattern</a> which looks pretty damn close to the movie sweater. We'll see if I'm burned out on cables when I finish the Bronwyn sweater (this is a pattern that I'll need to pay close attention to so I don't criss when I should cross) or on fire and reluctant to stop!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Please share your joys in the comments. I'd love to know how other people are coaxing their brains out of daily panic mode!</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">__________</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">*The status of gluten.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">So I started going gluten-free at the beginning of February and I felt better: less joint pain, less digestive upset. I kept it up for a good 4 months while the world went fucking nuts. And then I decided to see what would happen if I tried gluten again. I made a batch of our favorite <a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pasta-al-limone">pasta al limone</a> (fantastic recipe) and had a big bowl. And I didn't notice any difference. I went a few days, then tried gluten again with a big slab of my dad's homemade bread (he's an amazing bread baker.) Again, no difference. Huh. So what was going on that I had felt better when I went GF? A bunch of things I think. Placebo effect most likely contributed: I had felt helpless in the face of pain and discomfort and felt better because I was doing something. That feeling was probably compounded during the helplessness of the initial COVID-19 shut down when everything felt out of control (not that everything is hunky dory now, but at least we have more information so I don't feel quite so afraid of everything.) I also made some substitutions while GF that were probably pretty healthy: eating more whole grain brown rice and cornmeal instead of items made from white flour probably helped out both in the digestive realm and in controlling inflammation. I also frankly had the time and energy to focus on getting good at GF baking and welcomed the distraction from endless worrying. I am glad that I learned a lot about GF cooking and particularly baking since it led me to invest in ingredients that I didn't usually have around and to learn how to make safe, delicious foods for my GF friends. Going forward there will probably be some featured GF recipes here, but not exclusively GF. </span></div><div><br /></div>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-33500234628935358532020-06-16T08:08:00.004-05:002020-08-09T18:08:18.215-05:00Let's make Breakfast Salad a thingThe lettuce bounty from my garden continues and has transformed my morning consumption habits. Now, I eat this pretty much every morning and I am here to testify it is simply the best breakfast:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ1j0gsQfVQ/Xui_S2gxKbI/AAAAAAAAfyY/5ECyWVJA9X0bngMOGrL-Q42u0bXqVK_TgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/breakfast%2Bsalad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ1j0gsQfVQ/Xui_S2gxKbI/AAAAAAAAfyY/5ECyWVJA9X0bngMOGrL-Q42u0bXqVK_TgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/breakfast%2Bsalad.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There's lettuce, quinoa, walnuts, hard boiled egg, feta, tomatoes and dill fronds on that pile. Low carb, high protein and best of all, tasty as hell. It'll give you plenty of energy to put your hand to fixing this fucked up world. The above photo was taken when my lettuces were still in their more diminutive state. Now they look like this monster pictured below:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D-5DTRq9G9A/Xui_TEMHZBI/AAAAAAAAfyc/WofV9KielOMRVk8jAfI7bI132TVYCSkigCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/lettuce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1579" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D-5DTRq9G9A/Xui_TEMHZBI/AAAAAAAAfyc/WofV9KielOMRVk8jAfI7bI132TVYCSkigCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/lettuce.jpg" width="393" /></a></div>
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I didn't plant you, but I welcome you. </div>
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<b>Breakfast Salad</b></div>
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(quantities for each serving)</div>
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pile a plate high with lettuce (and/or spinach, arugula, baby kale)</div>
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top with: </div>
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1/4 C chopped walnuts</div>
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1/2 C quinoa*</div>
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1 medium tomato (or a handful of cherry tomatoes), cut into wedges</div>
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1 hard cooked egg, cut into wedges</div>
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about 2T crumbled feta</div>
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some dill fronds if you have them</div>
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drizzle on your favorite vinaigrette</div>
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Eat your breakfast salad and then relish the energy that you have, no mid-morning carb crash coming for you, my friend! You are well-fed, fired up and off to change the fucking world! </div>
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*in order to always have quinoa on hand, I recommend making a big batch, cooling it and freezing it in a big gallon ziplock bag. When you need some, you pull the bag out of the freezer, whack off a lump, nuke it for a minute or two, and then put it on your salad. </div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-78939133694004148962020-05-13T11:04:00.000-05:002020-05-13T13:40:22.020-05:00Growing (and not growing!) thingsThis year, at the end of March, right when the quarantine was about to kick in, it occurred to me that we wouldn't be going anywhere for the near future and that tending a garden would feel therapeutic rather than like I was letting something (else) down.<br />
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A vegetable garden at my home is not an option. We live on a tiny lot: our back yard is 20 feet deep and 10 feet of that is a deck, while the rest is for our darling Molly to use as a dog run. Our house faces north so our tiny front yard is almost all shade, except for a rain garden that I love dearly. I used to have a vegetable garden that was located in my mother-in-law's back yard which I had mixed success with. She only lives a few blocks from us but I still had trouble getting over there often enough to be a responsible plant-steward. Sometimes I got a crop of something I planted and sometimes I didn't. By the second or third year, it was clear that the fast-growing tree in her neighbor's yard wasn't going to be pruned and it cast shade over much of the garden. So I haven't had a real garden in about 10 years. Since then, I have filled my gap of longing for fresh produce with CSA shares from Tantre and Homer Farms (pretty well documented here on the blog; click the labels on the right if you want to go re-live those days), trips to the <a href="https://www.a2gov.org/departments/Parks-Recreation/parks-places/farmers-market/pages/default.aspx">Ann Arbor Farmer's Market</a> (which is now open for pre-order pick ups) and <a href="https://www.argusfarmstop.com/">Argus Farm Stop</a> and, frankly, by being pathetically grateful when people bestow their extra garden produce on me. One of Brian's friends who has a huge garden told him he'd never seen someone get so excited by a bag of vegetables after he surprised us with his extras. I wasn't faking it: I really do get that excited by free zucchini (and then I make massive double batches of my favorite <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2007/09/whew.html">Turkish zucchini pancakes</a>!)<br />
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Last year, a dear friend signed up for a plot at one of <a href="http://projectgrowgardens.org/community-gardens">our town's community gardens</a> and it occurred to me that this year, I could join her. I checked on March 28 and there was still a half-plot available and I jumped on it.<br />
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I am not a terrific gardener and my lack of the perfectionist-gene is pretty obvious if you survey the 11 plots at the garden. Some people have been creating beautifully laid out beds, little paths between their plantings and even geometric patterns. I weed, I loosen the soil and dig crooked rows, scatter some seeds and hope for the best! So far, something has eaten half of the pea seeds I planted and a bug has started decimating my kale leaves. Or maybe those are radish leaves? I didn't label the rows so we'll see. Anyway, I don't really care because anything I get out of this garden will be a plus and it will still be the best $80 I spent in a loooong time to rent the plot for the growing season. Now I have about 375 square feet in which to plan and feel hopeful and (very important) play with worms. Oh, and it also gives me a destination to get the hell away from my family when they are driving me crazy.<br />
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I also got really lucky in that the plot I was assigned has a ridiculous number of self-seeded lettuces growing on it. Here are a couple of views of all the bounty that I inherited from last year's gardeners and am happy to enjoy:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g-udtQj2DEc/XrvxbYWNDPI/AAAAAAAAfH0/u_Rz70rh-twBY9bL3c2Ip300C1S0jKiZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/lettuces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1600" height="312" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g-udtQj2DEc/XrvxbYWNDPI/AAAAAAAAfH0/u_Rz70rh-twBY9bL3c2Ip300C1S0jKiZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/lettuces.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BA16imEuY70/XrvyI5SVc_I/AAAAAAAAfIA/lGFLU8uIGBs4wnkH4iqM8e1G63rtMnsTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/even%2Bmore%2Blettuce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BA16imEuY70/XrvyI5SVc_I/AAAAAAAAfIA/lGFLU8uIGBs4wnkH4iqM8e1G63rtMnsTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/even%2Bmore%2Blettuce.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yesterday, I thinned these out (there are still a ton left) and brought home a big bag of baby lettuces.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sCd4BMVaC8M/XrvygNNcnEI/AAAAAAAAfII/fgubZtNATjIwcFL5umw-LEvBQQIpRtHsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/lettuces2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sCd4BMVaC8M/XrvygNNcnEI/AAAAAAAAfII/fgubZtNATjIwcFL5umw-LEvBQQIpRtHsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/lettuces2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Which last night became this addition to our dinner table:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QsfssDNC26Y/XrvyikTASZI/AAAAAAAAfIM/CIjH1SvHj6gLkVeuF0WwV6u5I9OxLNblwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/salad2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QsfssDNC26Y/XrvyikTASZI/AAAAAAAAfIM/CIjH1SvHj6gLkVeuF0WwV6u5I9OxLNblwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/salad2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I cut up and marinated a few store-bought tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, crushed garlic and chopped up basil and chives and then tossed them with olive-oil dressed greens and topped it all with a torn up ball of burrata cheese. It was fantastic.<br />
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And about that basil: there's a story behind it. It may surprise no-one that I am not the easiest person for whom to purchase a gift. Most of the time I suggest to the people I love that we do something together rather than having them make purchases and which I genuinely enjoy more than accumulating stuff. But Brian really loves giving gifts at Christmas and this year I found this thing under the tree:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mGVa_ryPBm8/Xrv8lZtd22I/AAAAAAAAfIk/wfr6i1ss0jIDwdY7XqJIC6C2Pgp10N8VwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/aero2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mGVa_ryPBm8/Xrv8lZtd22I/AAAAAAAAfIk/wfr6i1ss0jIDwdY7XqJIC6C2Pgp10N8VwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/aero2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
When I unwrapped it I thought it was the dumbest piece of garbage. If it worked (a big "if" in my head) it would just provide green stuff for our cats to consume and puke all over the goddamn house (the only houseplants we have are succulents which the cats leave alone. Every other time we've tried to have plants in the house the little furry fuckers have made us regret it). So I saw what was intended as a lovely gift as a sign that I'd soon be cleaning up even more colorful puke than usual. I tried to convince Brian to return it. He did not, just tucked it away in a closet. And we forgot about it.<br />
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And then he received the directive to work at home. It was just around the same time as I was looking at the community garden plots when Brian pulled this gadget out, set it up in his office (the door is closed most of the time so the cats don't get in there very often) and soon little things were starting to sprout. It was really sweet to see him so excited about his little seedlings, but I was still sure that it would prove to be a disappointment.<br />
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Boy, was I wrong.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lUcQB4an1SU/Xrv8nHfD9xI/AAAAAAAAfIo/fmtOalNkHNcgxKaLZ7GsLLz72Z7qHFdYACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/aerogarden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lUcQB4an1SU/Xrv8nHfD9xI/AAAAAAAAfIo/fmtOalNkHNcgxKaLZ7GsLLz72Z7qHFdYACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/aerogarden.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
Not only do we have basil, Thai basil, thyme, dill and mint growing like crazy (the only thing that didn't germinate was the parsley), but we have also been able to move it out of his office and into the kitchen where I can actually use it easily and the cats are leaving it alone! I've tried to have indoor basil before and it was always mauled and masticated but they give this thing a wide berth. I have no idea why: maybe the LED lights scare them off?<br />
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I've already done some pretty significant harvesting of all the herbs and it has been wonderful to be able to pinch off some basil or dill to toss in an omelet or some sauce or a blended salad dressing or to make a Thai tofu vegetable curry with a ton of Thai basil in it. The thyme might need some more aggressive pruning because my demand is not aligned with its over-zealous supply (ideas for using lots of thyme welcome!)<br />
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The other really nice thing about this gadget is that Brian has taken ownership of it: he checks the water level and the root-health and pays attention when to add the liquid plant food. I just get to use the glorious stuff which, like the lettuces in my garden plot where I reap the bounty of someone else's efforts, is the best of all possible worlds. Whether I succeed this year in growing anything doesn't really matter.<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-89413924187225203722020-05-11T17:21:00.001-05:002020-05-13T06:43:13.909-05:00I (almost) finished something!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Last night, while watching <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/">Little Miss Sunshine</a> (my pick for a perfect mother's day movie), I finished knitting the final sleeve on my <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">SiMPLE SOMETHiNG</span> sweater. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qz9FWqFoFHw/Xrk-lYTk7cI/AAAAAAAAfCg/5t0nGtqjNFMrrc-obPdJMvZOpPo53oYKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/right%2Bside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qz9FWqFoFHw/Xrk-lYTk7cI/AAAAAAAAfCg/5t0nGtqjNFMrrc-obPdJMvZOpPo53oYKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/right%2Bside.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ta da! </div>
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This was a really fun knit: the construction is simple but the use of doubled sock yarn means that you get to make lots of choices about which color to bring in and when to change colors or add a little pop. If you are at all interested in making this sweater, I urge you to go to Ravelry to check out <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/fallmasche/simple-something">the original</a> and the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-something/people">many unique color choice</a>s that people have come up with. There are so many stunning versions. Mine is on the subdued side, with gray and cream and pink as the main colors (I used this as a stashbuster and had the most of these colors already) and I striped it rather than attempting an ombre shading; I am really tempted to try to make one with darker and bolder colors someday.<br />
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The sweater is shaped a lot like my favorite sweatshirt and because it uses primarily superwash wool sock yarn, it should be about as soft and comfortable. It'll also be pretty low-maintenance in the care/washing department. I have plenty of sweaters made of more delicate fibers, so it's kind of a relief to have a sweater that can take a little abuse now and then and not fall apart or look like crap.<br />
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Of course, all those color changes means there are lots of ends to weave in, so it'll probably be properly finished and blocked in, say, a week if I cue up the podcasts and just make myself do it.<br />
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This is the wrong side of the sweater and you can see, I have my work cut out for me. Luckily I don't mind weaving in ends; I'm just a little impatient because we're having a cold snap right now and this would be very cozy to wear.<br />
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Of course, I still have plenty of sock yarn left so I'm thinking that maybe the next way to use some of it up should be with this Tin Can Knits <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/snap-5">Snap Hat</a> pattern that uses FOUR strands of sock yarn at a time!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-50523848325623615032020-04-30T12:42:00.000-05:002020-05-13T06:42:58.438-05:00Crackers? Crackers!Crackers are not something that I thought I'd ever get excited about. They mostly serve as a way of getting something else delicious, cheese or spread or dip, to your mouth without filling you up as much as bread. But I am now excited about crackers.<br />
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When growing a sourdough culture there's a decent quantity of what's called "discard," the bubbly starter that you remove before you feed the remainder and maybe, in times of plenty, people threw the stuff away. But when flour is in short supply and gluten free flours are absurdly expensive, you better believe that that stuff is not going in the trash. There are all kinds of recipes out there to use up sourdough discard; pancakes are by far the most popular way to use it up but people chuck it in everything: muffins, crumpets, even cakes. My favorite thing to do with it is make crackers.<br />
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I might not be quite so motivated if I was eating wheat right now because there's a good selection of high quality, affordable, wheat-based crackers, even in stores where the shelves of beans and pasta have been wiped out. There's really only one type of gluten-free cracker that I like (thankfully it's one of my favorite crackers with or without wheat). These babies:<br />
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But they are expensive and lots of regular supermarkets don't carry them. So my motivation was high to try and make my own crackers and the results make me almost as pleased as the <a href="https://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2020/04/take-bite.html">almond flour chocolate chip cookie recipe</a> I recently shared.<br />
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Behold, the sourdough discard cracker:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IvUUZbZ3ZUE/XqsGmK8RYYI/AAAAAAAAe-I/G2-Sghiojfw2xlXjIItCKrMe-WE7xx7aQCPcBGAsYHg/s1600/IMG_20200416_171418756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IvUUZbZ3ZUE/XqsGmK8RYYI/AAAAAAAAe-I/G2-Sghiojfw2xlXjIItCKrMe-WE7xx7aQCPcBGAsYHg/s400/IMG_20200416_171418756.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This batch was made with a sourdough starter which was primarily brown rice flour and I added some nigella seeds for their mild, onion flavor. </div>
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The next batch of crackers happened a week or so later, and by then I'd switched to feeding my sourdough starter quinoa and teff flour (which it loooooves: bubbles right up and almost coos with happiness) so the resulting cracker is more multi-grain and toasty tasting. I mixed in nigella seeds again (of which I am inordinately fond: you can buy them <a href="https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/charnushka/c-24/p-1250/pd-s">here</a>) and some black pepper.</div>
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Sturdy enough to make an excellent hummus delivery device</div>
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These are so good that I'm going to be feeding my sourdough more often than it really needs it just so I have an excuse to scoop out a 1/2 C of "discard" to keep myself supplied with crackers.<br />
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<b>Sourdough discard crackers</b><br />
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1/2 C sourdough discard (regular or GF)<br />
1/2 C flour (AP or a GF flour mix that has some xanthan gum, or use a different gf flour and add about 1/4 t xanthan gum for each 1/2 C of flour)<br />
1.5 T olive oil<br />
1/4 t salt<br />
(optional) 2 t seeds of your choice (sesame, nigella, poppy, caraway, cumin or a mix)<br />
(optional) 1/4 t dried herbs or spices of your choice (rosemary, black pepper, herbs de provence)<br />
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Mix everything together until it forms a ball, add additional flour or water by the tablespoon to get the right roll-able consistency (some starters are very wet and others are drier so start with equal quantities of starter and flour and then adjust accordingly.)<br />
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Wrap dough in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.<br />
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When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. <br />
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Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces.<br />
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Put down a sheet of parchment paper and dust lightly with AP or rice flour, roll out two pieces of dough directly on the parchment, getting it as thin as you can/as thin as you like. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet. Get out another piece of parchment and do the same thing with the last two pieces of dough.<br />
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You can score the dough lightly with a knife or pizza cutter if you want the pieces to break apart evenly, or leave them un-scored for rustic crackers.<br />
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Brush the dough with water and a little sprinkle of flaky sea salt, if you have it. Regular salt is fine too, just use a light hand, or leave it off.<br />
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Bake for about 15 minutes--time will vary depending on how thin you rolled your crackers and how toasty you like them. Flip and bake the other side for about 5 minutes (unless they are done enough for you already). If they are still a little doughy, put back in for another 5 minutes.<br />
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Break into pieces and when cool, store in an airtight bag or container.<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-66950901810399947442020-04-21T11:09:00.001-05:002020-04-21T12:13:25.240-05:00Book Give Away: Round 3 (with a kitty!)I have lots of books in lots of genres to give away so have a good scroll down and see if anything catches your fancy. As a plus, all the photos feature our scaredy cat, Mooney. This is the cat who many people who have been to our home for years have never laid eyes upon because he is terrified of the world (I think some friends suspect that the second cat we keep mentioning is actually a figment our our collective imagination, so here's proof for the doubters). I was veeerrrry careful to make sure not to startle him while taking these photos and was successful until the very last photo (when he woke up, gave me a glare, and was out of there in a flash.)<br />
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There are comments on some of these, not on all but that doesn't mean they aren't good books (it just means I don't have anything clever to say.) You know the drill, if you are local and want one or more books, say so in the comments or use the contact me feature in the side bar. If a title has been crossed off, it has been claimed.</div>
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<b>Graphic Novels</b></div>
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<i><strike>Angel Catbird</strike>, Vol 1</i> by Margaret Atwood and Johnnie Christmas: yes, Margaret Atwood can do anything, even graphic novels.</div>
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<i><strike>March</strike>, Book 1</i> by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell: you can watch a video <a href="https://stamps.umich.edu/stamps/detail/john-lewis">here</a> of their talk that took place at Hill Auditorium in 2017 as a part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series. It was a lovely event for a wonderful book.</div>
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<i>The One Hundred Nights of Hero</i> by Isabel Greenberg</div>
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<b>Classics</b></div>
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(some of these might have a little underlining in them)</div>
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<i>The Annotated Lolita</i> by Vladimir Nabokov (annotations by Alfred Appel Jr for whom I was a TA at Northwestern and whose son was a writer and producer of <i>The Simpsons</i>--there's your useless trivia tidbit for the day.)</div>
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<i>All the King's Men</i> by Robert Penn Warren</div>
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<i><strike>Sula</strike></i> by Toni Morrison</div>
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<i>The Odyssey</i> by Homer (Penguin Classics edition, translated by E.V. Rieu): a prose translation</div>
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<i>The Odyssey of Homer </i>translated by Richmond Lattimore: a poetry translation </div>
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<i>Mrs. Dalloway</i> by Virginia Woolf </div>
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<b>A Little Non-Fiction</b></div>
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<i>Jane Austen</i> by Claire Tomalin: one of the best literary biographies I've ever read</div>
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<i>The Soul of an Octopus</i> by Sy Montgomery: a big time cephalopod love fest</div>
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<i><strike>Alex & Me</strike></i> by Irene Pepperberg: I dare you not to want an African Grey Parrot after reading this. Maybe don't give it to your kid whose birthday is coming up unless you want them to beg for a pet that they'll have until they are 80.</div>
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<b> Maybe these will work for your family...</b><b>(because they did jack shit for mine)</b><br />
<i>The Joy of Mathematics</i> by Theoni Pappas: Lots of great visuals in here that should get kids interested in how math applies to life. Note my use of the word "should."<br />
<i><strike>Math Doesn't Suck</strike> </i> by Danica McKellar: pitched at middle school girls, the period of time when many girls decide they hate math. The tone would probably appeal to kids who are a little more mainstream. It is written in a very accessible tone and I appreciated some of the frank talk about stopping negative self-talk when it comes to math. My kids didn't relate to it because they are pretty quirky.<br />
<i><strike>Cleaning House</strike></i> by Kay Wills Wyma: the subtitle of this book is "A Mom's 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement." While I can't say that I got that outcome in our house (still plenty of youth entitlement to go around!) it does present good info and ideas on how to teach all the crap you think your kids should know how to do but that (bafflingly!) they don't.<br />
<i>Barron's Strategies and Practice for the NEW PSAT/NMSQT:</i> one of my kids did about 2 of the exercises in this book, the other refused to crack the cover. With Khan Academy SAT prep (that I've heard is very good though neither of my kids cared to avail themselves of it) I'm guessing that books like this are not in demand, but if you have a kid who prefers paper to screen, this book is almost unused.<br />
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<b>Blank Books</b></div>
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Two pristine blank books, one lined, the other not. Great for journals. (My resident artist rejected the unlined one for drawing because the paper is sort of rustic/not smooth like a sketchbook.) Let me know if you want the Cat book or the Leaf book.</div>
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<b>Visual stuff</b><br />
<i><strike>3-D Planet</strike></i>:<i> The World as Seen Through Stereograms</i> by Hiroshi Kunoh and Eji Takaoki<br />
<i>Magic Eye: A New Way of Looking at the World</i> by N.E.Thing Enterprises: both this book and the one above might entertain a bored kid or (if you suffer from a lazy eye) are good for training binocular vision<br />
<i>Metropolitan Cats</i> from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Mooney approves)<br />
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<b>Humor(?): Maybe these will make you, or a kid in your life, laugh?</b></div>
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<i><strike>I Could Pee on This and other poems by cats</strike></i> by Francesco Marciuliano (Mooney does NOT approve of this title. He prefers the title which is much more applicable to his daily life: <i>I Could Puke on This</i>)</div>
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<i>Zombies Hate Stuff</i> by Greg Stones</div>
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<b>Stand alone: PLEASE NOTE, MOONEY IS AWAKE AND AWARE THAT HE HAS BEEN PHOTOGRAPHED AND IS NOT PLEASED (there was a gray streak as he fled seconds after I snapped this)</b></div>
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I forgot to include this copy of <i>A Wrinkle in Time</i> by Madeleine L'Engle in my previous YA book give away, so here it is. It's the edition they released after the recent film so there are some photos from the movie in the middle of the book, if that makes a difference to you.<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-87476411154696213472020-04-17T19:12:00.000-05:002020-04-17T19:18:03.565-05:00FinishingI finished a lot of things today.<br />
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I finished painting my office and moved my desk back in.<br />
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My office will never be this tidy again.</div>
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I finished the knitting on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/kremen/yanis">this sweater</a> which will take up residence in Kerrytown once <a href="https://www.spunannarbor.com/">Spun</a> reopens.<br />
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I still need to weave in the ends and block it. </div>
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And I finished spending time with Thomas Cromwell.<br />
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<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-mirror-the-light/9780805096606"><img alt="https://bookshop.org/books/the-mirror-the-light/9780805096606" border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="251" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wt6aGK03LBM/XppBxxa2XGI/AAAAAAAAegw/EcyFEjlAv_Q--u7TlHbegDWdT0VAhzEMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/mirror.PNG" width="210" /></a></div>
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I held my breath while reading the last pages and then immediately re-read them. </div>
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Normally I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when I finish things, but these are strange days we're living through and I'm left thinking that a more aware person would have staggered their projects and made sure they didn't all end on the same day.<br />
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I was aware of a reluctance to finish all of these things while I was doing them: I'm not the fastest knitter but I avoided this sweater for the past few weeks because finishing it would make not being at Spun (which is an utterly delightful place to work) feel more real. I am a fast reader, but I intentionally did not let myself gobble down this book because I didn't want the trilogy to end. At the end of a section, I set it aside for a few days and thought about it and once I started the next section, I only allowed myself a chapter a day. And I took way more time than I normally would in painting my office, from the sorting and culling of the bookshelves (there are more books to give away coming soon) to how carefully I taped off the woodwork and cut in the corners, because I didn't have to notice how weird the world has become if I was worrying about paint drips.<br />
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Tonight, to comfort myself and distract from these melancholy thoughts, I'm going to pour a glass of Irish whisky and finish one more thing:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WfR4l_S23bw/XppBzS0EoBI/AAAAAAAAeg0/YA2VXMXMb94S7JRM2V_hziDBlCyiRKu3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WfR4l_S23bw/XppBzS0EoBI/AAAAAAAAeg0/YA2VXMXMb94S7JRM2V_hziDBlCyiRKu3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/cake.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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The last slice of a gf chocolate cake I made earlier in the week, topped with raspberry jam and whipped cream. At least this finish will be sweet.</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-66893638009928226022020-04-16T13:30:00.002-05:002020-12-15T09:07:53.773-05:00Take a bite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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These are the best gluten-free cookies I've tasted and are the second-best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made, only surpassed by the Cook's Illustrated "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies" recipe that they published in 2009 and that I haven't yet tried to reproduce with gluten-free flour. </div>
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So many gluten-free recipes fail in the texture department, but not these babies: they are chewy and gooey and wonderful. These are cookies I would make even if I wasn't avoiding gluten. And they are way easier and faster to make than my #1 recipe which involves brown butter and lots of steps. </div>
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These cookies are made with 100% almond flour--no obscure superfine brown rice flour that can only be purchased online or xanthan gum required. And if your grocery store is out of wheat flour during the pandemic, they might just have plenty of almond flour!</div>
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A few things I have learned making these:</div>
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1. Monitor the color near the end of the cooking time closely. Nuts can go from golden to burnt very quickly so I set the timer for a few minutes less than I think they'll need and then check them every minute or so (usually rotating the pan so that any hot spots in the oven don't make them brown unevenly) until they are golden.</div>
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2. These are easier to make if you use weight rather than volume to measure your ingredients (this goes for a lot of gluten-free recipes because weight is much more specific if you are making substitutions). If you don't have a digital scale, <a href="https://escali.com/primo-digital-scale">this</a> is a good and affordable one. I put volume estimates in the recipe for people who don't have a scale.</div>
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3. Shaping and freezing the dough balls leads to a better texture than baking right after you make the dough. If you do bake them right after you make the dough, they'll spread a lot more and won't be as chewy, more of a crumbly-crispy cookie and if that's your ideal, then go for it; just be sure to reduce the baking time by a few minutes. I prefer chocolate chip cookies with a little gooeyness in the center. Freezing the dough means adding a few minutes of cooking time but I think it's worth it and it means that you will probably have a supply of ready-to-go dough if you are having a crummy day and need a little pick me up. Reach in the freezer and grab three dough balls and in about 20 minutes (5 minutes to preheat the oven, 15 minutes baking time) your day is a little better:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_OWGfKeZOiY/XphSNpPznkI/AAAAAAAAed4/ZbT7oEEjYWktPEg0FMmbnNkl_-zTIBA6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3cookies.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_OWGfKeZOiY/XphSNpPznkI/AAAAAAAAed4/ZbT7oEEjYWktPEg0FMmbnNkl_-zTIBA6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/3cookies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ahhh. Cookie-therapy on a tray.</div>
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<b>Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies</b></div>
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adapted from a recipe by Erin Jeanne McDowell</div>
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300 grams almond flour (about 2 3/4 C)</div>
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3/4 t kosher salt</div>
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1/2 t baking soda</div>
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140 grams butter at room temp (10 T or 1.25 sticks)</div>
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110 grams light brown sugar (about 1/2 C)</div>
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100 grams white sugar (about 1/2 C)</div>
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1 large egg</div>
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2 t vanilla extract</div>
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300 grams (10 oz) chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips (I prefer hand chopped because then you get the little flecks of chocolate throughout the cookie, but I've also made them with comercial chips and they are fine.) The volume varies widely with these because it depends on your chip/chunk size. 10 oz of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips, which are a little bigger than standard chips, is about 1 1/2 C</div>
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flaky sea salt. </div>
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In a bowl, combine the almond flour, salt and baking soda. </div>
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Cream the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix. Scrape down the bowl if needed.</div>
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Add the almond flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Add the chocolate chunks/chips until evenly distributed. </div>
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Scoop about 2T sized balls (I used a heaping tablespoon as a scoop), roll in your hands to make a ball and then flatten to about 1/2" thick. Place on parchment and then freeze.</div>
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When it's time to bake, preheat your oven to 350, set the desired number of dough balls on a parchment or silpat lined sheet, sprinkle with a pinch of flaky sea salt, and bake for about 15 minutes. I set the timer for 10 minutes and then check (somewhat obsessively) for the last few minutes to rotate pans for even browning and to make sure the almond flour doesn't burn. You might need to add a few minutes depending on your dough ball size. One time I was a little generous making them and they took about 18 minutes total, another time they were more modestly sized and were done at about 14 minutes.</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-22420042437875924412020-04-11T06:43:00.000-05:002020-04-11T06:43:42.769-05:00Sourdough antics<br />
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Quarantine-brain and the fact that I stopped wearing a watch about 3 weeks ago means I really don't remember how long ago I began "building" my gluten free sourdough starter, but earlier this week I was able to give it a try and made one batch (two loaves) of gluten free sourdough bread from Aran Goyoaga's lovely cookbook, <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/cannelle-et-vanille-nourishing-gluten-free-recipes-for-every-meal-and-mood/9781632172006">Canelle et Vanille</a></i>. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t9LIhFD_7fc/XpGfQof5TTI/AAAAAAAAeUw/KNaEhNq82o4MSakVJgsHWOCe00H7QzDHACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/breads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t9LIhFD_7fc/XpGfQof5TTI/AAAAAAAAeUw/KNaEhNq82o4MSakVJgsHWOCe00H7QzDHACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/breads.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Ta Da! Pretty decent for a first attempt.</div>
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The recipe uses the technique of Jim Lahey's famous no-knead bread (baking in a pre-heated cast iron dutch oven) with a gf starter Goyoaga teaches you how to build day by day, and dough ingredients that she has tweaked to get gf bread that does a decent job of replicating the flavor and texture of regular bread. </div>
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I don't think my starter is particularly robust which may be due to the fact that it is early spring here and my house is cold. I finally figured out that I should be leaving it in the oven with the light on after feeding it, and that caused the bubbling to become a little more energetic. But, like me these days, my starter is maybe a little sluggish, a little sleepy, a little what-the-fuck-do-you-want-from-me surly. That's ok; it still worked out and got me a good-enough rise and produced a loaf with a good-enough crumb (we are all about good-enough, these days). The crust of this bread is truly spectacular: crackling and deeply flavorful.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Buxyoy9z46c/XpGfSruo5gI/AAAAAAAAeU4/JkuL_OoTKgMr0orCI2GFb7kqTnUkYm3sQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/slice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Buxyoy9z46c/XpGfSruo5gI/AAAAAAAAeU4/JkuL_OoTKgMr0orCI2GFb7kqTnUkYm3sQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/slice.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Why yes, that is the correct ratio of Irish butter to bread, thank you for asking.</div>
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There were a number of ingredients that I had to track down to make this. Thankfully, the general panic to purchase regular wheat flour that has emptied supermarket shelves has not spread to the GF baking section so (for locals, at Arbor Farms) I was able to get my hands on the sorghum flour, psyllium husk and potato starch that I didn't have in the house. I couldn't find gf oat flour so I ended up dumping some gf oats in the food processor and blitzing them to a chunky powder. The resulting oat flour probably wasn't as fine as the commercial stuff or a flour made in a high powered Vitamix, but I think it worked well enough and the oat flavor is really nice. I find stuff made with just brown or white rice flour to be pretty flavorless so the oats (and probably the sorghum?) give the resulting bread a depth and "toasty-ness" that is lacking in a lot of gf recipes.</div>
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Next time I make this I'll do the following things differently: </div>
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1. I'll only make a half a batch. I only own one cast iron dutch oven (do people really have two of these heavy behemoths in their kitchens?) and the second loaf that I made in a covered ceramic pot wasn't quite as nice. Maybe I'll go back to two at a time in the summer when I'll want to limit how often I turn on the oven for a long bake. But for now, I'd rather have one really good loaf at a time.</div>
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2. I might invest in a <a href="https://breadtopia.com/store/bread-proofing-basket/">banneton</a> proofing basket. I used a metal colander lined with a rice-flour dusted tea towel and it worked ok, but the bottom of the colander is kind of flat and I think contributed to the top of my bread not doming quite as much. </div>
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3. I'll probably try and bake it for another 10-15 minutes, to make sure that the moisture in the interior has a little more time to dry out. Lots of gf bread recipes end up a little "gummy" on the inside and that can be because they haven't been baked long enough (apparently over-proofing can also contribute to this). I don't know if you can tell from the above photo, but right in the center of the bread the crumb is a little too sticky.</div>
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All in all, I'm pleased with the results and I am enjoying having bread (and particularly toast) as a part of my life again.</div>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-19884153887725697932020-03-31T12:48:00.000-05:002020-03-31T12:48:45.388-05:00Just some really lovely thingsToday I don't have enough to say about any one thing, so I'm sharing a few lovely things that I've discovered.<br />
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I loved reading <a href="https://www.boredpanda.com/patrick-stewart-ian-mckellen-murder-mystery/?utm_source=&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=organic">this (edited) twitter thread</a> about a hypothetical Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan murder mystery series. I would watch this in a heartbeat.<br />
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If you or someone you live with is feeling crafty and restless, check out the tutorials on <a href="https://www.creativebug.com/">Creativebug</a>. If you have an AADL library card, you can get free access to the whole site via <a href="https://aadl.org/node/390279">this link</a>. I had fun reviving old embroidery skills on a pair of jeans that needed some mending (and now have decorative mending!) using <a href="https://www-creativebug-com.research.aadl.org/classseries/single/daily-embroidery-challenge-stitch-a-day-sampler">videos</a> from the woman who does the dropcloth samplers that I've long admired. I might dabble around a little with some watercolors later.<br />
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I've found a new podcast that I adore: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marlon-and-jake-read-dead-people/id1492163935">Marlon and Jake Read Dead People</a>. Booker Prize winning author Marlon James and his editor, Jake Morrissey, have wonderful conversations about books by dead people. No living authors are included because they are brutally honest in their opinions and criticism. It is heaven for English majors, or really, anyone who loves books. They just finished the first season so you can binge listen (and then maybe get a digital copy of some of the books.)<br />
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Yes, like everyone else cooped up at home with a bag of flour, I am planning to make sourdough. I'm using brown rice flour and instructions from <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/cannelle-et-vanille-nourishing-gluten-free-recipes-for-every-meal-and-mood/9781632172006">this lovely gluten free cookbook</a> that I ordered from Bookbound at the start of this confinement. I'm on day 4 of building my starter and I think that baking day will be day 7 or thereabouts.<br />
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Go little yeasties! Go!</div>
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This Thursday evening you will find me on my couch streaming the National Theater Live production of <i>One Man, Two Govnors</i> starting James Cordon which they are airing on YouTube. I saw it when it was playing in the theater and it is the perfect choice for these times: deeply ridiculous and farcical with one of the best-natured stars you can hope to watch. It will only be available for one week starting on April 2 (there will be a different play available the following week) so set aside the time to watch it and laugh.<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-14114866527273527452020-03-28T13:50:00.001-05:002020-05-13T06:41:55.328-05:00Book Give Away: Round 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Round two of the great shelf clean-off continues with two of my favorite categories, Contemporary Fiction and Fantasy/Speculative Fiction. This time I got kind of excited and put little annotations next to the titles below the photos because I have loved all these books at one time or another and don't really want to shut up about them even though I want the shelf space back. </div>
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Locals, let me know if you want any of these and we'll work out how to get them to you. If a title has been crossed off, it has been claimed.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OORXwEFzwLY/Xn-JGiyPumI/AAAAAAAAeCU/9-Y55A0ZLLgXy_CiZ9Pl9KyJf5INzgXBgCKgBGAsYHg/s1600/IMG_20200328_132511065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OORXwEFzwLY/Xn-JGiyPumI/AAAAAAAAeCU/9-Y55A0ZLLgXy_CiZ9Pl9KyJf5INzgXBgCKgBGAsYHg/s400/IMG_20200328_132511065.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<b>Contemporary Fiction</b><br />
Top to bottom:<br />
<i>The Greenlanders</i> by Jane Smiley: a Scandanavian-style epic written in clean, clear prose; you can lose yourself in this world<br />
<i><strike>Hard Laughter</strike></i> by Anne Lamott: I think this was Lamott's first novel, semi-autobiographical, definitely before she was sober/found Jesus<br />
<i>Out Stealing Horses</i> by Per Petterson: possibly one of the most beautiful books I've read about a father<br />
<i><strike>The Stone Diaries</strike></i> by Carol Shields; a compelling story of one woman's life from 1905-the late 1980s with surprising lightness and bursts of humor<br />
<i>Love Medicine</i> by Louise Erdrich; the book where so many of Erdrich's recurring cast of amazing characters were introduced, on the North Dakota reservation where many of her books are set<br />
<i>Postcards</i> by E. Annie Proulx; a sad but exquisite story of two brothers in New England<br />
<i><strike>The Love of a Good Woman</strike></i> by Alice Munro; a collection by one of the best short-story writers, most set in Canada<br />
<i>The Hill Bachelors </i>by William Trevor; a collection by one of the other best short-story writers, most set in Ireland or UK<br />
<i><strike>The Feast of Love</strike></i> by Charles Baxter; a retelling of Midsummer Night's Dream set in Ann Arbor<br />
<i><strike>Changing My Mind</strike> </i>by Zadie Smith; not fiction, but essays by the whip-smart novelist, and many of the essays are about fiction<br />
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<b>Fantasy/Speculative Fiction</b><br />
Top to bottom:<br />
<i><strike>Dreamdark: Blackbringer</strike></i> by Laini Taylor: probably technically YA, fierce fairies and talking crows, together battling an invading evil darkness<br />
<i><strike>Foundling</strike></i> by D.M. Cornish: Fantastic world-building, the first book in a series, the kind of book that has an 100+ page "explicarium" with a dictionary of terms, maps, and drawings which you either love or hate; I love that kind of stuff<br />
<i>Ghostwritten</i> by David Mitchell: Mitchell's first book with linked narratives; if you liked <i>Cloud Atlas</i>, you will probably like this<br />
<i><strike>Number 9 Dream</strike> </i>by David Mitchell: a little more intimate (one character, rather than linked stories) but still weird in a beautiful Mitchell way<br />
<i><strike>The Bone Clocks</strike></i> by David Mitchell: a head-spinning plot, both witty and strange<br />
<i><strike>The Raven Tower</strike></i> by Ann Leckie: a fantasy novel by one of my favorite Science Fiction authors, excellent world buildingKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-41530016253629956372020-03-26T11:20:00.002-05:002020-05-13T06:42:11.413-05:00Book Give Away: Round 1With the libraries closed and plenty of people I know facing financial stress, I'm starting the book re-distribution project. Today we have some food-related books and YA fiction. All of these were good enough to take up residence on a shelf in my home for a period of time, but I don't plan to reread them.<br />
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Here's the deal: if you are local, let me know if you want a book or books, either in the comments or via the contact me in the right side bar. I will try to update this post with the books that have been claimed crossed off so you know what is still available. Anything no one wants will go into a bin to be delivered to the Friends of the AADL Bookshop once it is safe to donate again.<br />
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No, I won't mail these to you. I walk (a lot; don't assume you live too far away. I once decided to walk home to Evanston from the Art Institute of Chicago which is something like 13+ miles. It was a great walk) and can drop them off at your residence and then you should either set them somewhere for 3+ days or wipe them down with disinfectant. If you want a lot of books (fine with me, I want to liberate my space for more new books) then I'll find a time when I'm driving to run an errand and am in your vicinity and will drop them off. If I know you and am comfortable giving out my address to you, I can leave them on my porch for you to pick up.<br />
<br />
And if you are feeling really guilty about getting books for free (don't. There's enough shit to feel bad about right now, free books should not be one of them) and have the means, please support one of our local bookstores by buying yourself a gift certificate to use at a later date. Here's the link to <a href="https://www.literatibookstore.com/literati-gift-cards">Literati</a> and here's the link for <a href="https://bookboundbookstore.com/">Bookbound</a>. See, you're giving yourself something to look forward to!<br />
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<b>Food Related Books</b><br />
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From top to bottom:<br />
<i><strike>The Michigan Gardner's Companion</strike></i> by Rita C. Henehan<br />
<i><strike>The Moosewood Restaurant Kitchen Garden</strike></i> by David Hirsch<br />
<i>Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads</i> by Bernard Clayton, Jr.<br />
<i><strike>Field of Greens</strike> </i>by Annie Somerville<br />
<i>Put 'Em Up: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook</i> by Sherri Brooks Vinton<br />
<i>A Well-Seasoned Appetite</i> by Molly O'Neill<br />
<i>Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Every Day</i> by Roy Finamore<br />
<br />
<b>YA Fiction:</b><br />
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From top to bottom:<br />
<i>Let it Snow</i> (3 novellas) by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle<br />
<i><strike>Marcelo in the Real World</strike></i> by Francisco X. Stork<br />
<i>Book of a Thousand Days</i> by Shannon Hale<br />
<i><strike>Enna Burning</strike></i> by Shannon Hale<br />
<i><strike>The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian</strike></i> by Sherman Alexie<br />
<i><strike>Looking for Alaska</strike></i> by John Green<br />
<i><strike>Paper Towns</strike></i> by John Green<br />
<i><strike>Chime</strike></i> by Franny Billingsley<br />
<i><strike>How I Live Now</strike></i> by Meg Rosoff<br />
<i><strike>Blood Red Road</strike></i> by Moira Young<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-43886871157177091812020-03-25T08:34:00.000-05:002020-03-25T08:34:50.713-05:00A ProjectNow that we're in shelter-in-place mode, I need a project to keep me from driving everyone and myself crazy. I've been practicing the restricted movement/social distancing behavior for the week before the governor's declaration <i>without </i>a significant project and mostly it was going ok: I like the challenge of the stash-busting the freezer, the pantry and my yarn. I let the kids sleep in. I took lots of long walks (the dog is very tired.) But then on Sunday something snapped, I got really squirrelly and agitated and I couldn't get myself to stop checking the news every ten minutes. Even a 4.5 mile walk, <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-mirror-the-light/9780805096606">time with the Tudors</a>, knitting, tea and making gluten-free pecan sandies (decent, but not earthshaking) did little to dent how I was feeling. So yesterday I decided I need a project to direct my energy towards and decided that I will paint my office.<br />
<br />
My office is blue and I am sick of it. I have about 3/4 of a gallon of cream paint leftover from when I painted the living room last year. It's probably not enough for two coats so I'll be scrounging around in the basement, looking for primer/other light colored paint to use for a first coat. The cream stuff has good coverage so hopefully, once I've prepped the walls, one coat will do it.<br />
<br />
But before I can get to painting, I'm tackling the bookshelves which have long been a disorganized dumping ground. I'm going through, shelf by shelf, and culling the books that we don't want to read again. The big bonus of this is I have a LOT of books to give away and many of them are excellent reads (just not books I/we plan to read again.) So I'll be posting those and if you would like some of them and are local, I'll try to get them to you. Anything that isn't requested will go to the Friends of the Library bookshop once it is safe to donate materials again.<br />
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Here are three of the ten shelves in my office that I culled and dusted and are ready to be tarped for painting. Look! On the middle shelf there is even room for NEW books!<br />
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And here are two that still need some (ahem) significant attention. Lots of crap to wade through, organize and recycle.<br />
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I already cleared my desk which has never been so clean:<br />
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But the real challenge in getting this room ready to be painted is the fact that I share this office with my youngest child whose desk looks like this:<br />
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There are layers of crap/treasures to be excavated and organized and it is going to take some serious nagging and threats to torch the whole damn pile to get child-participation to happen. There used to be a little cleared space in the middle where computer work could take place, but since we had to purchase a laptop for the kid to be able to complete schoolwork this year, the desktop is mostly neglected and the whole space has devolved into a shit-hole dumping ground.<br />
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Wish me luck.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-36113490300554708952020-03-24T17:34:00.000-05:002020-03-24T17:46:30.102-05:00Eat the damn salad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is my favorite salad. You should eat it.<br />
<br />
I kind of feel like stopping there because it has been an exhausting day full of the void of no one knowing what they should do (other than stay home) and so wandering from space to space, starting one thing, putting it down, picking something else up and then feeling restless after 15 minutes, turning the tv on, turning it off. You get the idea.<br />
<br />
The dog has been on four long walks today. The dog is tired.<br />
<br />
It's not that I didn't have the <i>time </i>to make something interesting and elaborate for dinner tonight. I didn't have the <i>brain</i>.<br />
<br />
Back to the salad: it's crunchy, salty, sweet, has a little protein from the walnuts and feta and is made with stuff that is available year-round in Michigan so no reliance on perfect produce. It makes me happy every time I eat it.<br />
<br />
Guess what I'm having for dinner tonight?<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Kate's favorite salad</span></b><br />
in per person quantities<br />
<br />
about 1/2 a small apple, Pink Lady is my favorite<br />
1 scallion, sliced<br />
1 stalk of celery, sliced<br />
about 1/4 C of walnuts <br />
about 2 T crumbled feta<br />
some lettuce (you can use whatever you've got. I've made it with everything under the sun including arugula and iceberg lettuce. Because of the sweetness of the apples, punchy greens are pretty nice here.)<br />
optional--some shredded cabbage, green or red, doesn't matter<br />
optional--a few sliced radishes<br />
optional--some chopped parsley<br />
<br />
Pile it all on a plate and drizzle on your favorite vinaigrette, or really whatever you like on your salads.<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-51310450785813993392020-03-20T08:25:00.001-05:002020-03-20T08:25:53.301-05:00Interlude, with carbohydratesI interrupt my freezer-and-pantry-and-bookshelf clearing routine for a little interlude featuring everyone's favorite food group, carbohydrates.<br />
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Last night I made the <a href="https://food52.com/recipes/58557-judy-hesser-s-oven-fried-chicken">oven-fried chicken</a> I mentioned yesterday and greens, cheese grits for me and for the gluten eaters, I made these biscuits:<br />
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They are Kenji Lopez-Alt's <a href="https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/08/the-food-lab-buttermilk-biscuits-recipe.html">Buttermilk Biscuits</a> from Serious Eats and are super easy and hard to screw up. The only changes I made to his recipe was to use soured milk (1/2 C milk and 2 t vinegar mixed together and left to sit for 10 minutes) for the buttermilk and I cut them in squares rather than using a biscuit cutter to make circles because then there's no waste and no need to re-roll scraps of dough. The recipe made nine sizable square biscuits and since there are only three left, I think that means that the three humans I made them for approved of the recipe.<br />
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This morning I decided to continue the carb celebration and made my new favorite thing, buckwheat pancakes.<br />
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These babies (recipe below) are gluten-free using half buckwheat flour and half Namaste gluten free flour blend. I chucked in a few shriveled blueberries I found in the fridge that no one is likely to eat fresh then topped them with a little Irish butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.<br />
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Which leads me to a little discussion about GF flours; while most grocery stores are out of wheat flour, there are likely still GF flours on the shelf. Yesterday I went to Arbor Farms to get groceries for me and for my parents. I hadn't been to a store in a week and I was curious and nervous about what I'd find out there. The place was not ravaged and didn't look like a scene from the apocalypse.* They were, however, out of wheat flour. But there were plenty of gluten-free flours on the shelf and since I have time on my hands to experiment and bake right now, I stocked up on some. If you want to bake and don't have any wheat flour and can't buy any until the supply chain balances out again, give some of these a try. (Avoid King Arthur's gluten free flour mix, though. That stuff is gritty!)<br />
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<b>Buckwheat Pancakes</b><br />
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1 and 1/4 C milk<br />
1 T vinegar<br />
1 egg<br />
1 t vanilla extract<br />
1/2 C buckwheat flour<br />
1/2 C other flour: if you aren't GF, then use all purpose. I used Namaste GF perfect flour blend.<br />
2 t sugar<br />
1/4 t salt<br />
1 t baking powder<br />
1 t baking soda<br />
canola oil for the pan<br />
<br />
Start by souring your milk: stir the vinegar into the milk and set aside for 10 minutes to get it to sour (if you have buttermilk in the house, use that instead of the milk and vinegar).<br />
In a medium bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.<br />
Combine the soured milk, egg and vanilla and use a whisk or fork to get the egg distributed well. Dump the wet stuff into the dry stuff and mix until there aren't any more dry bits. Then walk away for 10 minutes (that'll give the acid from the sour milk and the leavening ingredients time to react and thicken your batter. If you make the pancakes right after combining the wet and dry ingredients they'll be much thinner. Ask me how I know...)<br />
Heat up your pan, add a little canola oil and then drop 1/4 C sized blobs in and cook as usual (look for bubbles to form on the surface, then flip.)<br />
Serve with butter and whatever you like on your pancakes: maple syrup that has been warmed up with some frozen blueberries is lovely, but I also like these with just a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on top.<br />
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I got 8 hearty pancakes out of this recipe. If you don't have an audience to eat them all at once, then refrigerate the leftovers and they can be reheated in a toaster oven or microwave in the coming days. Waking up to pre-made pancakes is a really nice way to start the day.<br />
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*A big plug for shopping at Arbor Farms (probably also holds true for other small markets, but I haven't visited any): the cashier changed gloves between each order, the place was pretty empty so no standing in line with tons of other people and they had a pretty decent supply of foods that I hear are running low elsewhere. I saw sliced bread from Avalon bakery, plenty of olive oil on the shelves and it looked like the De Cecco brand dried pasta had just been restocked because the shelves were full. There were a few things that you could tell had been impacted: the canned soup section was decimated and there wasn't the normal selection in the chicken section (I usually make the oven-fried chicken with all thighs but they were out of those so we did it with a cut up whole chicken and it still worked great.) There was plenty of good stuff in stock if you are able to be flexible. Best of all I didn't feel like a massive ball of stress from the experience of shopping there.<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-77098252905715028592020-03-19T07:42:00.000-05:002020-03-19T07:42:03.345-05:00Stashbusting<br />
In this time of forced confinement, I'm trying to use what I have and that leads to multi-obsession/genre STASHBUSTING. I'm covering yarn, food and books in this post so if one of my obsessions doesn't interest you, scroll on down to the one that does.<br />
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<b>Yarn</b><br />
I started Ankestrick's <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-something">Simple Something</a> sweater because it looked like a great stashbuster. Then I realized I don't actually have a huge stash of yarn because I work in a yarn store so have pretty amazing access to whatever yarn I want whenever I want it (living the dream, people!) In my defense, I am using two skeins of legit stashed yarn and one of them was the inspiration for the project: a cream and pink and beige skein of sock yarn that my lovely employer, <a href="https://www.spunannarbor.com/">Spun</a>, commissioned from a dyer based on our pets.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Here's a photo of the inspiration: Molly, the pink-nosed pitbull, 65 lb lap-dog and major snuggle bug</span></div>
<br />
My Molly skein has been sitting around, waiting for me to do something with it. In my many years of knitting, I've made about five pairs of socks and while I get the appeal--portable, finite, warm feet--I never caught the bug. I really like knitting sweaters (and yes, I now give away sweaters. I don't need any more sweaters. But I still want to knit them.) The construction of this sweater is very simple: doubled sock yarn makes for a heavy worsted weight sweater with top down/raglan construction. The fun is in deciding which colors to use and when to change one or both of the strands; someone on Ravelry called it "painting with yarn" and that seems an apt description. There are some bold, wild <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-something/people">examples</a> of this sweater on Ravelry that I admire, but I decided to stick with a quiet color palette, mostly just riffing off the colors of the original Molly skein and another gray stashed sock yarn (label long gone; I think I bought it in Germany where sock yarn is sold in grocery stores) while bringing in a little purple and light green. There are also lots of little scraps of left-over fingering weight yarn from past projects that I'm using as accents and it's very satisfying to see a stripe of green and remember <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/kremen/ziggy-shawl">a shawl</a> I made last year.<br />
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I ended up purchasing four skeins of yarn to add to the Molly and the mystery gray stash skein: I bought them at <a href="https://www.spunannarbor.com/">Spun</a> (which is offering free local delivery and free shipping while the store is closed). Two of them are from local dyer Fiberstory and they are her Fave sock yarn in the colors Crocus (cream with purple speckles) and Cake (a very subtle cream/pink/yellow). And there are two grayish based yarns, one is Fig & Posy Fiber Co.'s Simple Sock in Abalone and the other is Neighborhood Fiber Co.'s Studio Sock in Earnest Shaw.<br />
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<b>Food</b><br />
The freezer clean-out continues and is a little terrifying. I found a packet of totally freezer burned sausages and now the dog has a couple of days of really good Kong fillings. She's pretty happy about this process.<br />
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I also found some pre-formed turkey burgers that Brian bought during one semester of particularly hectic family schedules during which none of our dinner times lined up and individuals were regularly scrounging for something that resembled real-food. He thought these fit the bill. The fact that they were ignored by everyone and shoved to the back corner of the freezer means that he was wrong.<br />
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Last night I took out four of the individual patties (lightly freezer burned at the edges), defrosted them, crumbled them up and made <a href="https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/curried_ground_turkey_with_potatoes/">Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes</a>. I make real Indian food pretty often and I warn you, this dish is not that. But it is kinda nice and comforting on a cold rainy day. I made brown rice and raita to go with it. Brian and I ate it happily and the other two human residents at this fine establishment tolerated it: one picked out the peas and the tomatoes, the other picked out the potatoes. They are weird and a pain-in-the-ass but I love them.<br />
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I also found a frozen pack of Trader Joe's puff pastry that was bought for some appetizer idea that never got made (I think it was supposed to be rolled up with brie and cranberries and then the event I was going to bring it to was rescheduled and I never made it.) So I tried making palmiers with it to give the gluten-eaters an afternoon treat and it was a total disaster. I've never used TJ's puff pastry before but wow, that stuff sucks. I've made my own puff pastry (a labor intensive project, but not a bad one if you have time and want to try your hand at laminated dough) and this stuff does not even closely approximate it: puff pastry that doesn't puff is just tough, greasy dough. The younger child ate two of the resulting palmiers (because grease and sugar count as major food groups for this age bracket) and then I threw the rest away. Disappointing, but at least I'm not wasting freezer space on an inferior product.<br />
<br />
I started rummaging around in the pantry and I found a whole container of grits hiding behind the sugar containers which were probably purchased after some trip down south and then promptly forgotten. So I made myself cheese grits topped with a good splash of hot sauce:<br />
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Ugly, but tasty! And gluten free!</div>
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I'll make these again as a side-dish to go along with oven-fried chicken (here's a <a href="https://food52.com/recipes/58557-judy-hesser-s-oven-fried-chicken">great recipe</a>) and greens.<br />
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<b>Books</b><br />
I'm really trying to read <i>The Mirror and the Light</i> slowly but oh god it's so good and hard not to gobble it down and I'm going to be really sad when it ends. So I'm queuing up Ocean Voung's <i><a href="https://www.literatibookstore.com/book/9780525562023">On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous</a></i> (Christmas gift!) for when I finish spending time with the Tudors (they are such a weaselly lot but oh how I love them). I tend to feel panicky if I don't have at least one book lined up to look forward to and no-one needs a panicky Kate right now, or really, let's be honest, ever. <br />
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Since I have time, I also decided to make a little room on my bookshelves for new stuff so in the coming days I will post pictures of books I own that I don't plan to re-read and which will be looking for a new home. I will attempt to get my kids to engage in a similar project which would liberate space on their shelves and provide a broader range of genres/topics/ages. If you are local and want one of them, I can drop one (or more!) off at your house. I love our local bookstores <a href="https://www.literatibookstore.com/">Literati</a>, <a href="https://bookboundbookstore.com/">Bookbound</a> and <a href="https://www.nicolasbooks.com/">Nicola's</a> and will try to support them to the best of my budget's ability during this period but I know that isn't an option for everyone so if one of my books would make you happy, please ask for it (while the library is closed another resource is the free ebooks and audiobooks that can be checked out from <a href="https://mlc.overdrive.com/">Overdrive</a> with your library card.) And now I'm actually looking forward to what I would normally describe as a chore: it'll be like visiting with old friends who I haven't seen in a long time. Since I can't sit down with real friends at the moment, my book friends will serve as a nice substitute. <br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-22498433269840584962020-03-17T07:56:00.000-05:002020-03-17T07:56:16.647-05:00Waking up! Welcome back!<br /><br />I'm waking up this long-dormant blog because in this time of COVID-19 intentional social isolating I find (despite my intense introversion) that I still crave conversation. So let's wake up together and keep each other sane! For today, I'd love to hear about:<br /><br />1. what you are reading<br />2. what you are cooking<br /><br />I'll start:<br />1. It could not have arrived at a better time: Hilary Mantel's final book in the Wolf Hall trilogy, <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-mirror-the-light/9780805096606">The Mirror and the Light</a></i>. (The link will take you to one of my local bookstores; support your local folks if you can particularly when their storefronts are closed.) It is 757 pages of intricate Tudor historical fiction requiring me to regularly refresh my memory of who exactly had claims to the throne and looking up family trees from the War of the Roses onward to see how they are leveraging their claims. I am happy as a pig in shit reading this. <div>
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For levity (because I can't spend every moment of my day with murderous Tudors without starting to consider keeping a knife in my doublet/jacket pocket), I'm listening to another Terry Pratchett Discworld audiobook read by the amazing Stephen Briggs. <i><a href="https://mlc.overdrive.com/media/82654">Thud!</a></i> is the one I'm currently listening to with <i>The Truth</i> waiting in the wings for when I finish. (The link takes you to the digital library download where you can request it. I assume it is probably also available if you have an audible subscription. Unfortunately, with the library closed getting it on CD isn't an option right now, but normally they do have a decent supply of Pratchett books). It is truly a sanity saver to still have more Discworld books to read--there are 47!--even after years of enjoying them.</div>
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2. On the cooking front, I'm doing some freezer and pantry clearing-out which, let's face it, really needed to be done. Yesterday I pulled a pound of freezer-burned ground pork out and made some great rice noodles w/pork, tofu, peanuts and cilantro (no one could tell in that format that the meat was less than ideal), served with celery and cucumber salad (chop them up and toss them together with a spoonful of <a href="https://www.tastecooking.com/cult-spicy-chile-crisp/">chili crisp</a>, a little tamari, rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar). Tonight, we're having roasted pork loin (because apparently I stash pork in my freezer? I don't even really like pork...) and roasted cauliflower with this <a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/coconut-turmeric-relish">coconut tumeric relish</a> and a salad. I haven't tried the relish before but it sounds promising and the picky eaters in my house can skip it and just eat beige food.</div>
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And I've been baking. I gave up gluten about 6 weeks ago (and I feel so much better) so I'm experimenting with gluten-free recipes and have come across some really good ones (there is a NYTimes almond-flour chocolate chip cookie recipe that is amazing but sadly is also behind a paywall...) And I'm trying to teach my helpless-in-the-kitchen children to bake their favorites with all the regular wheat flour we still have on hand. So far, my strategy for dealing with grumpy teenagers has been to a) throw a brownie or cookie at them and then b) make them go for a walk with me. It probably won't work for the length of our shelter-in-place behavior, but it's working for now so I'm not going to knock it. </div>
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I'd love to hear what you are up to!</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-34868405139467538662018-03-15T13:07:00.001-05:002018-03-15T17:30:16.415-05:00Ugly Lumps of Tasty HappinessJust a warning before you go any further,<br />
I am feeling VERY SHOUTY TODAY.<br />
<br />
Almost every afternoon between 2 and 4 pm I need some strong tea to keep me going and push the anxiety and despair that have become such a vibrant part of living in 2018 back into the little lock box in my brain where they live (the little buggers then jimmy the lock and we have a grand old time at approximately 2:30 EVERY FUCKING MORNING.)<br />
<br />
Here's the tea I currently drink which I <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYQ3CVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1">buy on Amazon</a> because they don't sell it in the US and most US tea is as weak as dirty dishwater:<br />
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I know it is possible to just have a cup or two of tea and not eat anything. But I'm usually also feeling a bit of blood sugar dip about then and quite frankly just want some goddamn baked thing to have with it. But, as mentioned in my last post, all those things I used to make like <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-inconvenient-craving.html">heavenly lemon scones</a> and <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2007/06/easy-peasy-brownies.html">supernatural brownies</a> now hit my aging metabolism like a brick and I spike then I crash and OH BOY IS LIFE WITH KATE EVER FUN THEN.<br />
<br />
So I started trying to put together a scone recipe that I can eat without metabolic whiplash. I came up with something that works for me and I think it is pretty tasty: it is totally whole grain with whole wheat pastry flour and buckwheat flour. It uses coconut sugar which has a lower glycemic index than regular sugar. And it has walnuts in it to give it some protein and metabolism stabilization. To keep these from tasting like baked cardboard I add the zest of a whole orange, about a 1/4 of a freshly grated nutmeg and some vanilla extract; those three ingredients are basically food perfume. The dry stuff has a decent amount of butter cut into it and then buttermilk is added to make it doughy.<br />
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The first time I made these, I tried to pat them into a circle and then cut triangular scone-shaped wedges.<br />
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They looked scone-like, but were still too crumbly to cut in half and it was a royal pain in the ass. The dough is wet. It stuck to my hands and spatula and the parchment paper and I probably lost at least a half a scone's worth of dough which made me grumpy.</div>
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Then it occurred to me that the recipe is a lot more like a drop biscuit (flour, butter, buttermilk) than a scone (flour, butter, heavy cream or mix of milk and egg) so the next time I saved myself some grief and just used a spoon to blop it on the baking sheet. BONUS: I got 8 reasonably sized scones out of it rather than 6 in the wedge formation AND my hands weren't covered in gunk. </div>
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After baking they looked like this:<br />
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THIS ISN'T A SCONE BEAUTY CONTEST, PEOPLE.<br />
THESE ARE UGLY LUMPS OF TASTY HAPPINESS.<br />
THIS IS A WAY TO HAVE SOMETHING COMFORTING WITH YOUR TEA WITHOUT DOING A NUMBER ON YOUR INCREASINGLY PISSY METABOLISM.<br />
(goddamnit)<br />
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It was a rough day when I baked the last batch so I made a pot of tea and ate two of them:<br />
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First one, with a thick layer of lemon curd spread on top. (I am aware that lemon curd has a shit-ton of refined sugar and I am undoing the stabilizing benefits of said scone. Bite me.)<br />
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Second one, a layer of Irish butter and crumbles of excellent sharp English cheddar pressed into the butter. (The book in the background is <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Empire-Britains-Shaped-Modern/dp/0465056660">The Taste of Empire</a></i> by Lizzie Collingham which is the perfect book to read while drinking tea.)<br />
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They also freeze pretty well. If you take one (or two) out a few hours before you intend to eat it, the texture should be ok. If you have a toaster oven and can pop it in for about 5 minutes at 300 degrees then it'll be almost as good as when they first came out of the oven. </div>
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<b>Ugly Lumps of Tasty Happiness AKA Buckwheat Walnut Drop Scones</b></div>
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1 1/3 C whole wheat pastry flour</div>
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1/2 C buckwheat flour</div>
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1/3 C coconut sugar</div>
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1/2 t baking soda</div>
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2 t baking powder</div>
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1/2 t salt</div>
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1/4 of a freshly ground nutmeg (probably about 1/2 t if you are using the pre-ground stuff)</div>
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fine zest of one orange</div>
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6 T cold butter cut into cubes</div>
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1/3 C walnuts </div>
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3/4 C buttermilk</div>
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1 t vanilla</div>
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Heat your oven to 400 degrees F. Put parchment paper or a silpat liner on a baking sheet.</div>
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In a food processor combine flours, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, nutmeg and orange zest. Pulse a few times to mix it up. Scatter butter cubes over dry stuff and pulse a few times to pea-sized pieces. If you are using whole walnuts chuck them in and pulse a few times to chop them (do not grind them into dust). If your walnuts are already chopped or you prefer to do it by hand, then just mix them in with the dry stuff in the next step.</div>
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Dump everything from the food processor in a mixing bowl. In a measuring cup, mix together buttermilk and vanilla. Pour it over the dry stuff and use a silicon spatula to mix it in gently. You just want the dough to come together and eliminate dry spots. Get out a spoon and blop 8 scone-sized blops on the baking sheet. Bake for 18 minutes until lightly browned. </div>
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Let cool slightly then serve with butter, jam, cheese or whatever floats your boat.</div>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-39524610440036218122018-02-23T08:13:00.000-05:002018-02-23T08:13:27.532-05:00Aging and WhingingHey look it's been over a year since I wrote anything here.<br />
In that time I:<br />
got mad<br />
got mad again<br />
got mad again<br />
(you get the trend)<br />
<br />
2017 was a year of rage and action and more rage and action and 2018 looks like it's going to be more of it; meanwhile the two charming poppets who used to live here have been replaced by teenagers with massive doses of snark (Internal monologue: "Who on earth did they learn that from?" Look in mirror. "Oh yeah...")<br />
<br />
I also got old. My freaking body no longer responds to what I put in it with the same ease as when I was a bright young thing of 40 so as I look at the recipes posed on the side bar of this blog I think nope, really tasty but nope, nope, that one's OK, nope, nope. I'm turning 49 in June. It is humbling.<br />
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In particular, I've found that me+refined carbs is really not a great combo. Refined carbs are now a treat, not a regular thing so no more weekly homemade pizza nights or regular batches of those <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-inconvenient-craving.html">fucking amazing lemon scones</a> because at the end of the night I feel like shit and continue feeling like shit for a few days: lethargy, joint pain, fatigue, sluggish thoughts. You know, fun stuff!<br />
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Luckily moderation, whole grains and a lot more protein tempers the effect. But you know all this stuff, you've read all the damn studies about what refined carbs do to your entire system and how we all should be eating massive quantities of vegetables (I'm happy to, always have, but I also like to eat other stuff). I have not been transformed into a paragon of virtue. I still eat mac and cheese made with regular pasta and chocolate chip cookies, especially the really good ones made with browned butter. The thing is, I can't do it all the time and I have to be prepared for the blowback.<br />
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The more important question which I know you are dying to hear is:<br />
<br />
What do you cook now that tastes good and doesn't make you feel like shit afterwards?<br />
<br />
So let's start with the smoothie. Most smoothies are evil in a glass because they are composed of fruit and fruit juice which makes my blood sugar spike and then crash and leave me very, very cranky. But smoothies are convenient, especially when you are so wiped out that chewing seems like too much effort and maybe you will just go lie down and rage in a horizontal position until someone notices and feeds you. (Tried that. They just walked by my prone form.) So it was time to come up with a smoothie that wasn't evil.<br />
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I get hangry more often now than I used to. No, strike that. I've always been someone who gets hangry. After all, I own <a href="https://www.threadless.com/product/7719">this shirt</a>:<br />
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Maybe now I'm getting better at preventing the hunger/anger outbursts? (I ask my kids. They give me the gimlet eye. Guess not.)<br />
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But hey, no one notices when you prevent bad behavior, especially when you aren't a toddler. My kids have no idea how often they would be exposed to my outbursts if I wasn't drinking this regularly:<br />
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It tastes better when served in a Guinness pint glass.</div>
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I call it: </div>
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<b>Hangry Prevention in a Glass</b></div>
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It has a shit ton of protein, fiber and hydration (as someone with low blood pressure and a tendency towards dehydration, anything that ups my liquid intake is also a plus)</div>
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Here is what goes into the blender:</div>
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<ul>
<li>about 1/3 C of frozen organic blueberries</li>
<li>about 1/3 C of toasted, unsalted cashew nuts</li>
<li>a spoonful of salted almond butter</li>
<li>a lot of glugs of unsweetened vanilla almond milk</li>
<li>and sometimes a little piece of frozen banana (about 2" long) if I have any on hand</li>
</ul>
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WHIRRR that baby up, drink it down, feel the stability descending upon you. Be warned, it will make your teeth, tongue and lips turn blue so maybe don't drink it on the run unless you want to creep out anyone who looks at you. One of the liberating things about being older is that I now really don't give a shit what people think about how I look. Coke bottle glasses for my myopia? CHECK! A desire to wear floppy comfy clothes all the time? CHECK! Super short hair because caring for anything over an inch requires too much effort? CHECK! So adding blue lips to my daily presentation to the world is just fine by me. I did have someone ask about my circulation once though which means that despite my efforts, I have not become totally invisible. (Which leads me to reconsider that old super-power question: which would you prefer as a super power, to be able to fly or to be invisible? I always went for the former because I assumed that people who chose invisibility were probably creeps who wanted to sneak around and spy on people in their private moments. Now I think they are probably just wise super introverts who want the world to leave them the fuck alone. If that is your rationale for choosing invisibility over flying then I think you are awesome.)</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-82044210337904316592017-01-12T11:10:00.001-05:002017-01-12T11:10:58.618-05:00Catching up and looking aheadHere's a long and long-delayed update on my 4 Obsessions. Yes, I am still obsessed, and yes, there still are (primarily) four.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Cooking</b><br />
<br />
First off, here is the recipe for curried pumpkin red lentil soup that I promised a bunch of people a while ago and never managed to post. It is easy, fast and damn good.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rpnyIYxoJks/WHd75b9EnfI/AAAAAAAAJGo/QyZc9oEuIK0AKDrYspjQiU4q5ms2LTnzgCLcB/s1600/IMG_20161014_174018460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rpnyIYxoJks/WHd75b9EnfI/AAAAAAAAJGo/QyZc9oEuIK0AKDrYspjQiU4q5ms2LTnzgCLcB/s320/IMG_20161014_174018460.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Curried Pumpkin Red Lentil Soup</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 large or 2 medium onions</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 T olive oil</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T prepared, refrigerated ginger garlic paste like <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Shan-Ginger-Garlic-Premium-Quality/dp/B0057Y9J38/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1484222655&sr=8-1&keywords=ginger+garlic+paste">this stuff</a> which I can get at my local grocery store for about $4 (or 2 minced garlic cloves and about 2 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Tbsp curry powder</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">salt</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">freshly ground black pepper</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">15-oz can pumpkin</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 can vegetable or chicken broth or equivalent homemade</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">¾ cup red lentils</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 lime</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">plain yogurt</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cilantro </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d6d32e9c-928f-2d28-921a-0c6fe9a4cda2"></span></span><br />
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grate the onion in the food processor (if you don't have a food processor I probably wouldn't make this recipe because grating an onion on a box grater would make me weep for ages.)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high. Add ginger garlic paste, grated onion, 1 teaspoon salt and some black pepper. Cook, stirring, until aromatic and starting to stick to the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add curry powder and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Whisk in pumpkin until evenly incorporated, then whisk in the broth and 3 cups water. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a simmer.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add lentils and continue to simmer until lentils are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Squeeze half the lime into the soup (cut the other half into wedges so people can squeeze in more if they want). </span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If necessary, t</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">hin the soup with a little water</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> before serving. </span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serve soup with a dollop of yogurt, top with some chopped cilantro and offer lime wedges for those of us who appreciate a dose of acidity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In other food news, like many of my friends I was gifted an <a href="http://instantpot.com/">Instant Pot</a> for Christmas. So far I like it and think it is a useful addition to my kitchen, particularly for making brown rice and cooking dried beans, two things I love but have had trouble planning far enough ahead to make them as often as I should. I've made a few "real" recipes in the instant pot (chili, a chicken orzo pasta dish) that are decent but not earth shaking. I'm actively reading pressure cooking cookbooks and reading blogs about pressure cooking to expand my repertoire. Send me your recommendations if you have them!</span><br />
<br />
<b>Reading</b><br />
<br />
One of my responses to the impending Trump presidency was to buy books, as though my purchases could neutralize the waves of ignorance and hatred rolling through our country. I realize this is illogical but hell, at least I'm helping to keep the local bookstores in business and I'm sending some of my money to authors I admire.<br />
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This is the haul from one week (other weeks I've been a little more in control and just purchased books one at a time). Some were intended as gifts, many were for me. Now that I can no longer stand to listen to the radio because Trump's voice makes me want to throw things (all my NPR is consumed via podcasts now) I have more time for reading. I've also started consuming more audio books (which I mostly get from the library) because they mean I can knit more easily while consuming prose.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-97agHmLByig/WHd9-vSCBPI/AAAAAAAAJG8/YPwkuDcJ9jILuLCSLuV0uwdX8p_62R1wwCLcB/s1600/IMG_20161201_161044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-97agHmLByig/WHd9-vSCBPI/AAAAAAAAJG8/YPwkuDcJ9jILuLCSLuV0uwdX8p_62R1wwCLcB/s400/IMG_20161201_161044.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">From top to bottom: <i>The Performance of Becoming Human</i> by Daniel Borzutzky, <i>An Untamed State</i> by Roxane Gay, <i>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (screenplay)</i> by J.K.Rowling, <i>The Fortunes</i> by Peter Ho Davies, <i>The Bitch is Back</i> edited by Cathi Hanauer, <i>Underground Airlines</i> by Ben H. Winters, <i>Commonwealth</i> by Ann Patchett, <i>Here I Am</i> by Jonathan Safran Foer, <i>Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts</i> by Aglaia Kremenzi</span><br />
<br />
I read a lot of good stuff last year, though I didn't quite make my 52 books in a year goal. Again, I blame the election because I started and did not finish <i>many</i> books in November and December. My mind was just too unsettled to focus so some were worthy books that I will pick back up later and some just felt wrong and trivial and got tossed aside. If you are looking for something good to read you might be interested in perusing last year's list and if you want to see what I think of the above books and everything else I plan to read this year then check in with this year's reading list (both lists contain brief comments).<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://booksread2016.weebly.com/">2016's reading with brief comments</a></li>
<li><a href="http://booksread2017.weebly.com/">2017's reading with brief comments</a></li>
</ul>
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<br />
<b>Writing</b><br />
<br />
I also haven't been able to write fiction since the election. The world has become so surreal that I find it hard to escape into an alternate universe--I feel like I won't find my way back to this one since it is increasingly unrecognizable. I know this sounds dramatic, but writing is hard and, with my particular brain chemistry, reality is also increasingly hard so it's enough to stop me from doing it. I've decided to set all my current work-in-progress fiction aside and not feel bad about it.<br />
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I won't stop writing, but I'm giving myself a different challenge: read (at least) a poem a day and write a poem a day.<br />
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Reading a poem a day is easy and I recommend <a href="https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem-day?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Poem-a-Day%2520%2520January%252010%25202017&utm_content=Poem-a-Day%2520%2520January%252010%25202017%20CID_4385116f19dfd40146bcf68d50bdd99c&utm_source=Email%2520from%2520Campaign%2520Monitor">poets.org's email service</a> where they send one well-curated poem each day to your email inbox. New poems appear M-F and there are classic poems on the weekends. It's a great way to discover new poets, visit with poets you've read before but haven't been following lately and generally just pay attention to a whole genre that doesn't get much attention. I check a lot of poetry books out of the library and keep them next to my bed so I can dive in when the insomnia hits, most nights at about 3:30 am.<br />
<br />
I'm finding writing a poem a day surprisingly enjoyable. This is about process, not product. Some of these are really lousy poems. That's ok. A few have at least a stanza or a line that I really like and maybe I'll find a way to use them elsewhere or I'll go back and work on the poem to bring the rest of it up to that quality. The process is waking up a part of my brain that I haven't accessed recently and I feel like I'm building new muscles as a writer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Knitting</b><br />
<br />
Two days a week I work at the local (wonderful) yarn shop <a href="http://www.spunannarbor.com/">Spun</a> so my knitting has taken a big upturn in quantity and quality. All my knitting projects are on Ravelry so if you are curious about what my needles have been doing you can check it out <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kremen">here</a>. Since the shop started carrying <a href="https://www.brooklyntweed.com/">Brooklyn Tweed</a> yarn, I now understand why people get addicted to the stuff. I've completed one project (<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kremen/oxbow">Oxbow</a>) and am currently working on two others (<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kremen/koto">Koto</a> and <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kremen/stasis-pullover">Stasis</a>) and all three are in different yarn weights (Quarry, Shelter and Loft respectively). The yarn is wonderful to knit with, the colors are complex and the patterns are incredibly well-written and clear. My knitting queue is increasingly filling up with more Brooklyn Tweed projects (<a href="https://www.brooklyntweed.com/shop/bronwyn/">Bronwyn</a> and <a href="https://www.brooklyntweed.com/shop/reverb/">Reverb</a> are the two I'm trying to decide between for next-on-the-needles).<br />
<br />
Lately, of course, when I haven't been working on samples for the shop, I've been making a whole lot of <a href="https://www.pussyhatproject.com/">Pussyhats</a> for the Women's March in DC:<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4JuivIiIBGQ/WHd5YIg4SaI/AAAAAAAAJGU/YZo_5TpfRlcNc9T5ffejz3k052BUXraZwCLcB/s1600/IMG_20161214_155912709_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4JuivIiIBGQ/WHd5YIg4SaI/AAAAAAAAJGU/YZo_5TpfRlcNc9T5ffejz3k052BUXraZwCLcB/s320/IMG_20161214_155912709_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3FYeohkDPsY/WHd5YTNLCcI/AAAAAAAAJGY/oqmikwGpbIU2TllG7DdKcxbScdh4CUHGACLcB/s1600/IMG_20161214_155950447_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3FYeohkDPsY/WHd5YTNLCcI/AAAAAAAAJGY/oqmikwGpbIU2TllG7DdKcxbScdh4CUHGACLcB/s320/IMG_20161214_155950447_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />
That's the update on the obsessions for now; if you feel like chiming in and commenting and letting me know what you are up to, please do. Now that social media has changed the landscape I find myself commenting less on blogs and more on facebook and Instagram posts. I'm sure that's true for many of you too.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-88412041523771181332016-10-10T07:19:00.002-05:002020-05-13T06:40:15.357-05:00Weeks 18, 19 and 20<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Closing out the CSA season with three weeks packed into one post. I got sick during week 18 so went minimal; then I got busy and didn't feel inspired to do much beyond basic "use it before it rots cooking." I end the post with a few reflections on this Homer CSA season.</div>
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Week 18</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wBLD3d_xWBk/V-hC2UJc7LI/AAAAAAAAHJU/sQjgvNW4ffY-7TL4-iQdGolyq70mK9lsQCLcB/s1600/IMG_20160924_101442438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wBLD3d_xWBk/V-hC2UJc7LI/AAAAAAAAHJU/sQjgvNW4ffY-7TL4-iQdGolyq70mK9lsQCLcB/s400/IMG_20160924_101442438.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Clockwise from Left: Celery, roma tomatoes, watermelon, green zebra tomatoes, tatsoi, green beans, beets and greens, and sweet potatoes<br />
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Week 19<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bdsceX6V-s/V-_7ExLOfTI/AAAAAAAAHLY/VAsgyhHNYfMOYYYmqqgZg_5uXLbaaWbeACLcB/s1600/IMG_20161001_125151623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bdsceX6V-s/V-_7ExLOfTI/AAAAAAAAHLY/VAsgyhHNYfMOYYYmqqgZg_5uXLbaaWbeACLcB/s400/IMG_20161001_125151623.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
From left: scallions, butternut squash, parsley, cayenne peppers, green peppers, corn, red pepper, eggplant, napa cabbage<br />
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Week 20<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7SMYT_5mXoM/V_pGdr0AQtI/AAAAAAAAHSQ/euPTAyXGBZsbJZ1ivhqY0SUf8vB-dCtDgCLcB/s1600/IMG_20161008_122532421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7SMYT_5mXoM/V_pGdr0AQtI/AAAAAAAAHSQ/euPTAyXGBZsbJZ1ivhqY0SUf8vB-dCtDgCLcB/s400/IMG_20161008_122532421.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
From left: popcorn, kale, pie pumpkin, massive sweet potato, Anaheim chiles, green pepper, garlic, massive butternut squash, napa cabbage<br />
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What I did/plan to do with it all:<br />
<ul>
<li>I don't think I did anything very creative with Week 18 stuff: baked the sweet potatoes and had them topped with feta and scallions, made a quick tomato sauce for pasta with the roma tomatoes, steamed the green beans, boiled the beets and put them in a salad. Tasty but not exactly creative.</li>
<li>From Week 19, I cut the corn off the cob and added it to <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2005/12/more-than-sum-of-its-parts.html">pozole</a>; the red pepper, eggplant and scallions got stir fried together; the green peppers and parsley were chopped into salads; a little of the napa cabbage got stir fried with tofu, ginger and garlic; the cayenne peppers are being dried and the butternut squash will store well.</li>
<li>From Week 20: I still have a pie pumpkin from a previous week so I'm going to bake this one and that one together and see if I have enough for Thanksgiving pie (probably do it when I have the oven on for something else and then freeze the pulp for the end of November); the kale is going into kale, white bean and sausage soup; since I still have a lot of last week's napa and am faced with another massive head of it, I'll make some <a href="http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/basic-napa-cabbage-kimchi-kimchee-29505">kimchi</a>; the freakishly large sweet potato will get <a href="http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018313-sweet-potatoes-with-yogurt-and-cilantro-chile-sauce?action=click&module=Global+Search+Recipe+Card&pgType=search&rank=1">roasted and served with yogurt and cilantro chile sauce</a>; the Anaheim chiles will get roasted and combined with some tomatillos and probably frozen to be combined later with pork or chicken for a chili verde; the butternut squash will (again) be stored until I'm in the mood to deal with its massiveness.</li>
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And now a reflection on the season:<br />
I haven't decided whether I'm going to do the Homer CSA again next year. The produce was generally good and unsurprising; what I missed in the creative offerings from my years with Tantre (sweet potato leaves, shishito peppers, Japanese turnips, lots of herbs) I appreciated in the fact that I didn't have to work too hard to figure out what to do with the weekly share. Most of the vegetables were good and fresh and tasted great with simple preparation if I was too busy to do anything fussy. There were a few disappointments: the corn was pretty tasteless (quickly learned that corn on the cob was not the way to go with it and cut it off and mixed it in with other stuff), the celery was bitter beyond use (chucked it in the compost), one cantaloupe was rotten and there was not much basil and there were almost no potatoes (only one week in the spring). I hadn't realized how much I was looking forward to fingerlings and the like until they never showed up. The communication from the farm was sporadic and not terribly helpful when compared to Tantre emails (for example, if a pest got the potato crop and that's why there weren't any, it would have been nice to know that.) The few recipes they suggested were not my kind of cooking (think hearty Amish) but that didn't really matter to me since I have pretty strong opinions and ideas about recipes to go on. The pick up at Arbor Farms on Saturday mornings was really convenient so thats a <b>big</b> plus. I am pretty tempted by the <a href="http://www.whitelotusfarms.com/csa/">White Lotus Farm CSA</a> for next year; I've been looking at their Instagram photos where they occasionally post photos their weekly CSA share and their farm is not that much further from my house than Arbor Farms, though the pick up time is later in the day and thus more of an imposition on my schedule. As an early riser, the 7:30-8:30 pick up for Homer CSA was ideal because I could get it and then get on with my day. But with White Lotus, I might be able to lure the girl child out to the farm with me (goats to visit! goat cheese, croissants and other treats to buy!) so it might help develop positive associations with produce for one of my kids. I'm going to keep contemplating my options for next year. If you have another CSA to recommend with easy west-side of Ann Arbor pick up options, please let me know!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-64831219927008884942016-09-19T10:37:00.000-05:002020-05-13T06:40:30.874-05:00Week 17<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
CSA Share</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XFv7TxKqqOc/V-ABpBs2AdI/AAAAAAAAHH8/xfdWANgO6hMTvT_HIsSw8_kL-dJIyoTWwCKgB/s1600/IMG_20160917_111629316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XFv7TxKqqOc/V-ABpBs2AdI/AAAAAAAAHH8/xfdWANgO6hMTvT_HIsSw8_kL-dJIyoTWwCKgB/s400/IMG_20160917_111629316.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
From Left: eggplant, green and red peppers, assorted tomatoes, concord grapes, carrots, hot peppers, squash, corn<br />
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Menu plans:<br />
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<ul>
<li>eggplant, peppers and the green zebra tomatoes will go into <a href="http://4obsessions.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-is-what-summer-is-supposed-to.html">this eggplant salad</a>, to be served with quiche.</li>
<li>a couple of the big red tomatoes will be grated to make a quick cooked fresh tomato sauce to serve with tortellini.</li>
<li>the squash will join last week's delicata and get roasted with some rosemary and garlic and served with the corn and pork tenderloin.</li>
<li>carrots are already gone since Fiona found them...</li>
<li>I'm not a big fan of concord grapes so I'm looking for recipes that go beyond grape-jelly flavors; can't decide whether making something like <a href="http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013850-grape-focaccia?action=click&module=Global+Search+Recipe+Card&pgType=search&rank=2">this grape focaccia</a> is worth the effort or not. If you have a great savory concord grape recipe, send it my way!</li>
<li>I've accumulated quite a few jalapeños (and have a few more growing in my garden) so I think I'll combine them all to make a jar of <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/221961/quick-pickled-jalapeno-rings/">pickled pepper rings</a>.</li>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.com0