Each year I am reminded of one Mothers Day when I was quite young. In those days there was a sharp line between women’s work and a man’s job. My Dad, however, had grown up in restaurants and kitchens and knew his way around them. On this Mothers Day he had dried some dishes and headed out the back door to hang a dish towel on the line. As he was doing this “woman’s work,” …
‘Tis the season! Nettles are popping up – fresh, green and nutritious! Yup. Stinging nettles. But after you pick them carefully, dump in a bowl of water and rinse, the sting recedes and disappears. First I made nettle soup. I sauteed onion, added to some cooked carrots and potatoes in soup stock. Herbs like thyme are nice, too Next I added the nettles to wilt and ran the soup through a blender. Just before serving …
When I got my stimulus check, I recalled something Ken said often. “Each cent you spend is a vote for the future.” So I thought about what I could do after paying off a couple bills. First a local artist who does wood cuts: Emily Gray Koehler Then another wood cut artist in Vermont: Mary Azarian I bought some socks from Maggie’s and some underwear from Decent Exposures. These are all women owned businesses. Next …
Late yesterday I finished joining the pin loom squares. There are still a couple steps before the project is finished. I need to weave in some loose ends. And once the lock down is done I will approach a friend for a refresher on crochet so I can do a border
On this rainy grey day I return to one of my projects. Some people do jigsaw puzzles – not me. I am joining small woven squares. These are scraps from a knitting project two winters back I wove the scraps on a 4″ x4 ” pin loom, and am now joining them together. I had laid the squares out and determined the pattern, and then bundled rows Today I passed the halfway mark! Nice quiet …
Sunday at 5:30 a.m. I lit the oven and pulled the second rise of the dough out of the refrigerator. As the Two Dutch ovens heated in the oven, I inverted the first two loaves – one in a greased bowl and one in a rice floured banneton Here’s the difference – still doesn’t look like much! I slice the tops and mist and place in the Dutch ovens and into the oven I clean …
This week I had a major light bulb moment. It’s funny. As a teacher (of other things like swimming) I had seen students pause or stall for a time before moving forward, and then at some point they became ready and wow! Weeks, if not months ago, my clarinet teacher had started to explaining the circle of fifths (sometimes the notations are reversed and called circle of fourths – especially in jazz groups). I had …
As we headed to lock down here, I realized I wasn’t going to see some of my favorite people – farm kids. And they would be home trying to stay engaged with school work and avoid boredom. So, the idea of “distraction packets” was born. Creating these packets was fun and I avoided boredom as well. The first week I sent a mailer with a sheet of postcard stamps and a bunch of postcards from …
Today I spent a couple hours in the kitchen. I had wanted to make a liver spread. But I didn’t have any mayonnaise. So … I made some mayo. But mayo only requires yolks. So I used the leftover egg whites to make macaroons. Loyal has nudged me to up my game with dipping the cookies in some melted semi sweet chocolate So we had a picnic like lunch wit cress salad and some salmon …
When it was cold last week I knew I would be using the cook stove, so I asked Loyal if he would help me with rendering lard. He created this fat cutter with objects he found here. It works like a paper cutter. I follow the directions in Ken’s old Stocking Up. Place a quarter inch of water in the bottom of a kettle, add fat, add heat. Once the temperature reaches 255 degrees, the …
