From lurid to low-key, the bio of a muffin

I had a cooked diced beet doing nothing in the freezer, and, along the lines of the sweet potato cake caper, thought I'd see how a beet banana bread idea would go. In cupcake cases.

Sooo I beat up the beet,

drained off a cup of juice, now in the freezer for soup later, 

and blended the drained beet dice into the mashed banana.

I left out the sugar, but used the same 1.5 cups of flour, using whole-wheat, etc. And added notes as I went, to the recipe, which is starting to look like it was designed by a committee.

Basic recipe with changes galore.

Here's the lurid batter

But here's how it baked

Tamed down considerably. It took about 50 minutes. Made 16 muffins.

And the texture is very good.  These are not cupcakes, as it turns out, but unsweetened muffins. Split toasted and buttered I think they'll do.

Testing them on Handsome Son tomorrow.

Dieffenbachia, progress report

 A few weeks ago, I did surgery on the giant dieffenbachia, hacking off the whole thing leaving a stump, then transplanting the growing tip, plus another side shoot.  Here's how they're doing

See down the right side there, a tiny green shoot? that's the stump coming to life and getting ready to burst out

And here's the side shoot, starting new leaves

And the growing tip, unfurling new leaves, despite sharing with a potato, which is still there, need to follow him closely for when his leaves wilt, because then there will be potatoes, with luck.

Dieffenbachia is a very responsive plant to work with.  It just really wants to live, and all you need do it let it.

Then here's last night's rapid, didn't feel like cooking, supper.  That's the rice with the last of the cheesy broccoli, and on top, an omelette made with the last of the grape tomatoes. Fast and very good.  The Thai basil on top, if you just do that and leave it a few minutes, gives off a very delicate version of its flavor, just about right for the egg in its vicinity.

All these productions show that you can just let things do what they plan to do, and don't need to work so hard all the time.  I tell myself.

Friday, I think, plans

 

Today, for the first time, I took advantage of a senior hour, where only seniors can come and play. No, not to the shops, they're doing it at some unearthly hour I can't possibly get my eyes open for, this owl says.  But the library, where the hour starts at the ten o'clock opening.  I was picking up books and a movie about which more anon.

Librarians overjoyed to see actual face to face people, even though there were maybe two patrons there at the time, very much outnumbered by library staff.  One was stationed at the door to make sure people were masked correctly, and to count comings and goings, to have no more than 25 at a time. Which I'm told hasn't happened, or anywhere near it.

Nice chat with librarian friend who runs the knitting group, and is currently not only working at the library, but, as a county employee, also working on the electoral system, alphabetizing voting certificates.  They have lent staff, paying them as usual, to fill up the gap left by the older people who can't do what they've been doing for many years, too risky. Evidently all county employees can be called on, and the election people are particularly happy when they get library staff who know all about orderly handling of documents and organizing and alphabetizing, this year especially being heavy demand, because most votes are on paper.

And this is why I went

The Boy in the Field I know nothing about, but a writer on Book Passage recommended it, so I thought why not.  The Salt Path is Mary M's recommendation, and I'm going to embark on it this weekend.

And Best in Show is Christopher Guest, seen it before and it's well worth another run.  Well, anything by Christopher Guest is.  He's wonderful, the kind of satire doc that some people think is a real documentary and get all flustered about.  This one is about the world of dog breeding and showing, and I've been to enough shows and known enough breeders and showers over the years to absolutely get these characters and their hermetic but unknowingly funny, world.

Which reminds me to see Princess Bride again soon, another Guest brilliant one.

So this is my Saturday movie.  All set.

If you're interested in my adventures with the therapy lamp, I've been using it for nearly a week and notice that I'm sleeping much better, starting a bit earlier, like 11 instead of midnight, calm dreams.  Whether it's connected I don't know, but certainly nothing bad has happened to me.

I did do an online quiz  created by eye doctor people to determine what would be the best time of day for a person like me to do the half hour light session.  I'm a Moderate Evening type they tell me.  And they recommended trying to do it about 7 a.m.  Hm. Not happening. 8.30 is as early as I can do this, complete with tea, and eyes more or less open.

You're supposed to have your eyes open for the maximum effect on the pineal gland, which is the little seat of power in the brain over your circadian rhythm.  It's working away affecting us all the time and a lot of us don't even know we have one. So I'm hoping to fend off the down mood that usually happens with November and December and starts to improve in February.

I had a bowl of that Green Powerhouse Soup just now, and I think the baharat is excellent with the cabbage content.  It just works a nice balance.  So I must note that somewhere, not that I write down any of these soups, just mess about making them.

Enjoy your, wait, checking again, oh, yes, Friday!

Alice in wonderland, no, it's the power co. And cheering soup

There has been an ongoing billing thing with my power company for several months, since lockdown. I'm getting used to previously reliable folks being shorthanded, working from home, much harder to keep everything straight.  But this was a puzzle.  I have equal billing, meaning every month the same amount is charged, then once a year there's a balancing month when they either pay or bill me the difference between my usage and the monthly charges.  

And every couple of years my township gets into a contract to cover everyone unless they opt out, with a different fuel source, to get a group rate, much better than the individual householder rate.  This has worked fine, same power company, same repairs, same coverage, excellent outage remedies, etc.  Just their source is different. And more and more it involves solar and wind.  And it's cheaper.

Then this year, I got my annual notice that the monthly charge, based on usage, would be 1., a very manageable amount,   I'm saying 1.  because it's proportional, read on  They charged me that once.  Then after one month, it went to 2. which was double the amount, and stayed that way for three months, oooookay, then this month it went to 3. which is triple the amount.  And it seemed to me to have changed three times, not just one steady billing.  

So I emailed them, and after a week of anxiety, this being a lot of money from my budget, heard back from them this morning, one sentence saying I had cancelled the third party billing which was driving up my charges.  So I got back to this lady saying, but I'm billed differently, what happened to my equal billing.  Whereupon she got back, saying, you cancelled the third party that was causing the increase, you are not being billed differently (?) and from now on your bill will be for 1.  Back to the original May number. 

Translation: oops, we fixed it and we don't plan to admit we might have made a mistake...but we'll see what next month brings. It's not the service, that is excellent, great infrastructure, constant communication when there's an outage, all that is great.  They are by far the better company of the two in the state.  It's just the accounts department at the moment.

Then, it being a rainy old day, and my shoulder a bit tired from the spinning, needs a rest for a day, I made a Great Big Green Soup.  This large bowl of frisee leftovers, leek greens, asparagus, and cabbage all cooked down to a very manageable amount, although at first it looked as though I couldn't stuff it all into the pot.

I used baharat for spice, about which more below

And here's the finished product, and pretty good it is.  I used only about a teaspoonful of the baharat, which is just enough for a lovely warm spicy taste, but not heat.

This is where I learned it.  From Ottolenghi's book Jerusalem.  It's a wonderful book about the culture and history of Jerusalem, both Arab and Jew, and the food as it reflects and passes on its culture.

I also talk airily about berbere as if I'd been making it all my life, learned it a few months ago, and it's from Marcus Samuelsson, Ethiopian/Swedish food writer and cook

This is hot, and very good.  I use only a small amount and it goes a long way.  I think you can buy it ready-mixed, but I like the fresh toasted and ground effect.  Also you can decide how hot or not you want it when you make your own. And just a note on fenugreek: in Indian spices, it's known as methi. Same thing, different name.

And last, here's my kitchen friend, which came into play in the course of making the soup when I slipped and caught my finger on the hot saucepan.  Aloe vera, cure for burns.  It's saved my hands many a time. Just break off a bit, squeeze the gel right onto the burned place, and the pain vanishes, the burn subsides and there's no scar.  My neighbor saw this a few months ago, and said, why are all those bits broken off? that can't be right!  I explained the first aid idea, and how that's why it was there at all. Not a decorative plant, a working partner.

Now I'm going to goof off, reading Dodo by E.F.Benson, which I think is a forerunner of the Lucia series.  Certainly Dodo reads like a rough draft for Lucia, and it's interesting to see the development.

I say it's broccoli!

That little girl, served spinach and told to eat her nice veg, who declares "I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it," is veering close to my lukewarm like of broccoli.

I eat it, as I eat dark chocolate, reluctantly, because it's very good for a person. The sulfur taste of broccoli and the metallic overtones of chocolate are the reasons I'm not a fan.

Anyway I assembled quite a nice lunch, steamed broccoli, dash of lemon, with jasmine brown rice, and a lot of grated sharp cheddar mixed with the broccoli and melting in it. Dash of paprika to dress it up.

Couple more lunches here, too.

So now I'm glowing with smugitude. 

Sugar pumpkin and flu season

Yesterday's visit to an allergist, prompted by my primary care doctor, to see if I can safely somehow have a flu shot this year ended in a nope. Too risky after a bad reaction some years ago. But at least I did explore it. And while we were at it she wrote a script for next year's allergy season. A cheering assumption that I'll still be here!  Fine by me. Handsome Son has agreed to get a flu shot to protect me. 

It's worth remembering that if you can get a shot, you're also protecting the community, so there's that.

The little sugar pumpkin has come indoors to rescue it from the squirrels, and I steamed and diced it. I'm wondering now about a pumpkin cake..the seeds have been booked by my neighbor who loves them, except I'll keep a few to plant. 

He has a pumpkin he bought for the seeds, and plans to give me the flesh when he cuts into it. A pumpkin exchange! The pumpkin rind is now back on the ground on the patio, to feed squirrels!  The circle of life in a way.

So please vote, not by mail, use a dropbox or hand your ballot to a poll worker on the day, or vote in person by machine. Too little time to mail considering the sabotage at USPS conducted by the pmg.

And if you can get a flu shot, please do. That's two powerful things we can do right now.

A twofer

That pine sheet I showed you in the loft, one of the dumpster finds, I mentioned at the time that it had served several purposes including headboard.

Writing that blogpost reminded me of the headboard idea again. And yesterday Handsome Son, when I mentioned it, said, well why don't I bring it down while I'm here?  Which we did, he doing the heavy lifting, that thing is heavy, and I sort of acted like a tugboat, guiding the other end. Down a flight, round two corners, across the room  slid up the bed and upended into place behind it.  Now you see it's a headboard again.  It dresses up the platform bed pretty nicely.

The bed is a favorite of mine. Craftsman made by a small shop long gone, it's completely collapsible.  The base is solid sturdy members which slot together to receive the base, two parts resting side by side. Then the hinged surround that keeps the mattress in place rests on the lot.  It's a firm as a rock in use, but I can literally carry the parts about and assemble it myself, as I have on a number of moves.  In fact some of the parts have formed shelves and worktops in the studio at times when I was using a different bed.

And the twofer?  I realized you might not have seen the artwork above the bed, a handmade paper piece in the form of a quilt, with Fibonacci numbers embossed into it, using a kid's counting toy. This piece got a feature in the regional newspaper, back in the days when there were newspapers. It's abaca and cotton linters fibers, mounted on a foamcore back.  It looks hefty, and weighs maybe a pound tops.

On exhibit, quite a few nice people came to see that and other paper artworks.  One little boy really liked this one and studied it for a while, before saying, well, there's no number 4 on there!  I guessed that he was four and was looking for his age.  So I explained to his mom about the Fibonacci numbers and why there wasn't a number four.  Then other people started to examine it looking for exactly which numbers were to be found.  That little boy was a very good art docent.

Speaking of which, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, is one of the few novels I've ever read which understood what art is to the artist, and what a driving force it is. I really recommend it for any number of reasons, aside from the depiction of Mia, one of the artists in question.

On the subject of a driving force, sometimes it's not lifelong.  My son used to compose music around college age.  I'd given him a good portable keyboard, and using it as a base, he created an entire MIDI system, composed a lot of work on the keyboard, recorded onto cassette and shared with his friends. 

A while ago I asked him if he still made music.  He does go to a drumcircle, but doesn't compose on the keyboard.  He explained, no he didn't do that because now he doesn't need to.  Which I thought was such a healthy response.  He did some really good work, but once he no longer needed to, he moved on. Never felt the need to give in to pressure to continue just because he did good music that people admired. This is great.

When the art impulse in one direction moves on, you need to let it, not just keep forcing yourself on and on because it's what you've always done, and people think that's what you do. Let it go and other wonderful forces will come into play. But first you have to let go. I know some sad painters who keep on keeping on, and it's really not art, but they need to feel they're still painters improving their skills, despite evidence to the contrary. When perhaps they're now some other form of artist, really.  Oh, the youth of the heart, and the dew of the morning, you wake, and they've left you, without any warning.  Beautiful song, you might find it on Google.  But it's not really sad if you look beyond the moment.

Anyway, that's today's Deep and Important Thinking.

And tomorrow I see an allergist to discover if she thinks there's a safe way to get a flu shot this year, since my primary doc is very concerned about this year particularly.  She says they might be able to determine whether this year's vaccine is safe for me, after the excitement of a few years ago, the one that nearly did for me. So we'll see.  Other than that, I'm trundling along just fine for an old lady..

My neighbor is sending me pix of the plants I gave her, now all potted up, and the others she's just acquired. She's thrilled with her new indoor garden.   I am too.

Cashew carrot potato ginger apple soup

 CCPGA soup. Sounds like a government agency. But it's pretty good.

I added in an apple, thanks to Marilyn who made a sweet potato soup recently and liked the apple addition.

 

I found a lone Yukon gold potato in this week's box, so why not. I remembered to soak the cashews a couple of hours. Carrots and ginger already prepped. Little dash of berbere, not much, it's hot. Dash of lemon at the end. Usual start with onions and garlic, and the chicken stock cubes and salt all cooked in the olive oil first. 

And here's a soup for several days. Dressed up with a sprig of Thai basil.

My neighbor thanks everyone who helped with the plant id, and my neighbor on the other side, Amitha's husband, told me they've bought the house, after renting for several years. This is good news, nice neighbors, lovely kids. 

I've been friends with everyone who's lived there, lucky in our neighbors, and it looks as if it's happening again.

My formatting goes centered after I insert a picture, which I don't like as much as left justified, but oh well. Bear with me!

Plant ID please

 My neighbor would like to know what this is. He planted it in spring, can't remember what it is.

Top pic, dug up to move, bottom still in place. Growing in Central NJ. Not wild, came from a nursery.

I can't remember either! Thank you for any help!

A little something in progress

Making a fruit crumble, first in ages, in anticipation of a visit from Handsome Son, bearing groceries tomorrow.

The granny smith apples that came yesterday, peaches and plums from earlier Misfit boxes, all included.

I did Rose Levy Birnbaum's maceration. Then tossed the fruit in cornstarch, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, and added a pinch of amchur.  Did a reduction of the liquid I'd drained off the fruit, and poured the resulting syrup over the fruit in the dish.

I was introduced to amchur by, and,  in fact, my supply came from, an Indian friend and great cook. It's dried mango powder, very citrusy, and I'm trying it here.

I'll let you know how it goes. You need to observe the usual precautions if there's any chance of allergies to mango. In my fortunate world, no. I've used it with berries, very good. 

Tinfoil hat at the ready. 

I changed the crumble topping a bit, part ground oats, part ground almonds, part whole-wheat flour. The coffee grinder came onstage. Added cinnamon, pinch of salt, melted butter, sugar, molasses.

I still have some of that caster sugar I ground up, so maybe I'll sprinkle it on the finished crumble, after I see if the amchur would make it a good idea.

Here's the result. It smells wonderful, even if I say it myself. When it cools I'll sample it. 

My story is that this isn't dessert. It's got oats and nuts and fruit, clearly it's breakfast. Around here, anyway.

Misfits instant supper

Quick supper practically out of the box. 

Frisee, grape tomatoes, garlic croutons, seasalt,  no need for any dressing. I've seen recipes about frisee saying it's bitter, you can't eat the green parts, and I wonder.

This was not at all bitter, but tangy and very good, green parts and all. I made the croutons by toasting a slice of bread in a skillet, with garlic chopped, in butter and oil. The flavor was strong enough to go well with the frisee. Maybe that's why it didn't taste bitter, come to think of it.

Dessert is an Asian pear, one of my favorite fruits. 

This was basically assembling rather than cooking! 

Misfits, prepping, books

 My misfits box arrived today, the first time it's been on time. Usual nice quality.

Top layer

Next layer

Everyone takes a bath

And the current state of play: beet, steamed, cooked, diced, now in pickling liquid in the fridge. Bags of leek greens, leek whites, quartered cabbage, quartered onion, in the freezer.  Bowl of carrots, peeled, diced in fridge ready for carrot cashew soup. Granny smith apples waiting to go in a crumble tomorrow with peaches and plums. Frisee and grape tomatoes ready to be a salad tonight.

Now I need to see what cabbage can do aside from coleslaw which I don't like. I think caraway seeds go with it. I tasted it, very tender and sweet.

Woman cannot live by veggies alone. She needs books. So I've listed the books recommended lately for your saving and reading pleasure. Some are from emails from readers who don't comment in here, so I thought I'd share.

Becoming, Michelle Obama

Little fires everywhere, Celeste Ng

Caste, Isabel Wilkerson

The Color of Law, Rothstein

How to be an Anti-Racist, Ibrahim X. Kendi

The salt Path, Raynor Winn

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See

A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

I have read and loved Snow Flower, and have Salt Path requested. Have I missed any recommended in here? 

On the subject of books and great opportunities on Kindle, since I like plenty of emergency reading on Kindle in case of WiFi outage, I got a great deal: the whole canon of EFBenson for 99cents. And a collection of Agatha christie including a couple I haven't read, amazingly, for I think $2.99. 

So Amazon's good for something. And nobody has to run about loading and delivering. It's already on my Kindle, which is the original model, from when there was only the one. People sometimes ask which Kindle! It's like asking what color Model T Ford.

A new monthly adventure, also rehoming

 As of last month, I'm having the house cleaners back, once a month, takes them, moving like whirlwinds, as a family team, a bit under two hours to leave the place looking and smelling great.

I usually go out to let them work, and not feel they have to talk to me or that I'm checking. They're utterly trustworthy and reliable, no worries.

It used to be simple to find an interesting destination, often the library, but now they're open very little, and not encouraging lingering, I have to be more inventive. I've decided that cleaning morning is to be a time for going to new places, out of doors till the weather doesn't permit, and taking along reading material in case i need to shelter in the car.

So today I downloaded Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See on my Kindle, thank you Florence, for the recommendation, no need for WiFi, and set off for the Preserve.

Misty, damp day, quiet, very few birds even, muted Fall colors. There were a few people around, masked usually. So I walked and looked and smelled the earth and had a great visit. Then I read in the car till hometime.

Need to look these up in my fungi book

These little parachutes were everywhere

Standing here, you could hear the flitter of leaves falling into the water

Snakeroot is all gone now, but these, maybe feverfew? still blooming despite light frosts

Then home to mushroom soup and the bread which turned out very well, then to organize the plants I'm rehoming.

 I start plants in the hope of finding someone who would like them, and neighbor Amitha was very happy with them.

Here they are preparing for departure

Left aglaonema, aka Chinese evergreen, with a bit of begonia, right begonia

And the containers one Lenox, one a lovely old Trenton Potteries antique bowl, ready for other work.

Postscript on the bread

 It looks as if the bread worked fine. Nice crust, good crumb. The flavor is good, too, probably the new whole-wheat flour. 

The white bits are oatflakes. Eating a slice toasted right now, testing for you. It's good.

Plumbing exchange, plant swap and cream of mushroom soup

Today I was doing a bit of work at the condo I rent, and noticed the toilet tank lid was broken. Probably dropped. Since there's a space saving hinged counter top over it, concealing it, this isn't evident. And having just had repairs done, I am not in the market for buying a whole new unit.

Back home I noticed a toilet being unloaded by neighbors at the house across the street. Hm. Replacement. So I asked and the neighbor said she's replacing three of them, and fine, she'd save a lid for me when she gets the installation done. Neat solution. 

Back across the street fell into conversation with another neighbor, who's in search of houseplants. Next door neighbor and I both happy to supply.

He showed her a huge angel wing begonia I'd given him as a little plant I'd started from mine. She looked interested, and I cut her a nice sturdy top of my parent plant with instructions to start it in water then plant in soil.

Tomorrow she's getting some I've been growing in water and already have roots, another begonia variety. Here

What you might call a happy concatenation of a day. Tenant happy, neighbors happy, me overjoyed to find a willing taker of surplus plants.

Tonight was also about cream of mushroom soup and bread. 

Flavored with parsley and thyme

The soup is good, the bread still in the oven.

A  thing happened. I was watching Arne and Carlos while I measured for the bread, in which I'm trying a new posh whole-wheat flour, and accidentally doubled the quantity of vital wheat gluten. Picked up the wrong measuring cup. So we'll see. It's not good experimental practice to change two elements at once. But I'm not on TV, so it can be hushed up!