Sunday morning, hot

Our temperature is now officially in the too hot for me range. High 90s is what it feels like. Just right for Handsome Son and his regular shore runs. He's picked up his season pass to his favorite shore location. Me, it's a season pass on a cool sofa except for early morning walks.

Between the early heat and torrential rain everything's growing beserkers. I used to have a wonderful English teacher who still spoke in the accent of an earlier age, clergy pronounced clargy, berserk pronounced bersark. So she comes to mind when I encounter those words.

And the ginger plant you had to squint to see a few days ago is now leaping up

The review of the canteloupe ginger jam, speaking of ginger, which is really a sauce, follows.

Here's the first trial. Even though the recipe said jam they also said great on meats, ice -cream and in general more of a sauce than a spreadable jam. 

I'd agree. The taste is way more than a sweet jammy thing. The salt as well as the ginger make a terrific combo, much more interesting than jam. I used it in breakfast oatmeal and, well, I may need a second bowl.

I really recommend you try this. One regular sized canteloupe makes four cups of dice. I added a couple of tablespoons of diced ginger. Not much sugar, just one cup. It is pretty sophisticated. 

It needs a bland partner such as plain bread or meat or, as here, oatmeal. I tried it on cornbread and there was too much going on. They were in competition. 

Speaking of the best, June is Pride Month, and happy month to our blogistas who celebrate. And to us who are proud to call them our friends and neighbors. I wonder when we'll rewrite Paul to include "neither gay nor straight" in his list of how we're all one in  love, nothing separating us. I think he got it, so long ago.  As well as all the  expressions of gender. And if you don't know why June is the month, look up the history of the movement and learn about the courage and suffering that have paved the way to this day.

Couple of important birthdays coming up: sister Dogonart on the 11th, well into her tenth decade and following this blog still.

Later will be Handsome Partner, who left us ten years ago but is still very much with us. We'll do a strawberry shortcake, his favorite birthday thing, in his honor.

Leaving now to continue fiddling away at Mitered Squares while the sun shines.

But not before I come back to remember that not only did I vote early in our primary, I got an acknowledgement from the County Clerk. Or Clark

Winnowing, jamming, baking, botanizing

Here's a wild spiderwort, tradescantia virginiana, named for John Tradescant, Elizabethan plantsman to the stars, along with his son.  Tradescant swiped a lot of American continent plants for European propagation for his wealthy bosses, including the queen.

This one's started by my path. See that tiny blue flower?

Then there's a cultivated variety growing down the street.

This is a handy illustration of the term "common or garden". Mine's the common,  wild one, my neighbor's is the garden, cultivated one. It refers to plants seen both wild and cultivated. Around here the daylily is another, both common and garden growing all over.

Then to the serious business of the day.

Lunch. Which consisted of heating up frozen carrot cashew red lentil soup. And it occurred to me that the seven minutes it took in the microwave could be employed to do a kitchen job that's been annoying me for ages. 

Namely the cabinet where I keep, well, stuff, bags for freezing. Far too many, and many too small anyway. So I thought I'd pull the lot out, sort, recycle and put back.

No before picture, too depressing, one of those doors with bags sticking out on all sides. 

I recycled a large number of small bags, retrieved pieces of foil and parchment paper which I reuse, restored order, and, bonus, found the container of  tools and caulking compound I thought I'd lost. That's it on the shelf.

I can find everything now, and it literally took only as long as the time to heat the soup. Very smug about this.

 Then came cornbread. I needed some breadesque item and had just enough cornmeal and sugar available to do this.

I used my new Polish tool and it's great. Mixes fine, doesn't just shove the batter around, great buy. It's a lovely piece of engineering.

But your overachiever was not done yet.

Then I thought I'd cook the Misfits potatoes ready to use. Microwave for another seven minutes, that seems to be today's unit of time, then cool, peel, freeze. 

In the background you will see an added reason for this activity. A sink packed to the gunwales with dirty dishes. Postponement. It amazes me how one person can generate so many dishes.

And then the next featured performance.

Canteloupe and ginger jam happened. This involved a bit of pectin because I wasn't sure about the natural pectins, if any, in canteloupe. 

I added in ginger chunks because I like ginger with fresh canteloupe, so why not. And the recipe I (sort of)  used, involved seasalt, so I thought fine, I'll go for that.

I just squeaked out enough sugar for this. And I boiled it for quite a while before it seemed to gel. At one point I thought the chunks were a bit big, so I used the stick blender for just a few seconds to reduce them. 

Blending boiling jam is not for the faint of heart, but it seemed to work. I'll remember this for future reference.

We'll see how this comes out when it's cool.

Meanwhile I'm going to read and snack.

I've earned a bit of repose.

Good neighbor, Mitered Tunisians, Breadtopia and Misfits

Busy day of many moving parts punctuated by thunderstorms.

Early this morning my neighbor came over to collect my car key because he wanted to inflate my tires while he was doing his own. He did mine first, honestly, he's worth all the strawberry jam and little somethings that end up at his door. Then he went on to attend to his pickup.

I was busy working on my first lace weight project using the blue yarn and a fine hook to try a Tunisian Mitered Square. Tricky getting something this small going until you have enough to hold while you work. 

Also getting your eye in to this scale is a trick, after the yarn I've been using. But I prevailed and now I have another scissor fob. You can see the relative size against the first one.

Scissor fobs are useful for helping you locate the scissors which have buried themselves in the threads and needlebooks and fabric in your bag. They're also good to keep track of your own stuff in workshops where several people might be using similar scissors. For embroiderers,  they're a chance to make a little personal stitchery. In my case they're also a handy destination for idle musing.

In the middle of this I heard the front door open, thought it was neighbor though he usually announces himself so as not to startle me. 

Looked up and there's a total stranger in the living room looking at me in bafflement. Beautiful young Indian lady. I asked if maybe she'd come into the wrong house? 

She said, I think I must have, sorry, sorry. Not the first time people have done this. They go by a vague set of directions, don't check the house number, end up chatting with me. Off she went to try again. 

Then knitting group on-line,  and I left when I heard a thump at the door, thought it was my Misfits box and it wasnt. It was my Breadtopia!!

I had finally realized what was putting me off making bread.  It was the mixing of the dough with a wooden paddle, best tool available but annoying, and hard on my hands.

A bit of research brought me to Breadtopia and this lovely dough mixing tool from Poland. While I was there I picked up some parchment paper already in sheets, and  some flour. 

I like very much how organic, small crop flour producers love to explain about their flours, how they work and why and what's the best use. 

I learned about bolted flour, too. It was pretty much a grain education. Bob of Bob's Red Mill is similarly a good teacher. They all love their product, real artisans. So now I can get on and make bread. 

Meanwhile I had a pasty for supper.These pasties are getting to be the kitchen drawer of cooking. Any old stuff ends up in them. 

Today was the original onion, mushroom, sausage, with additional leftover sweet potato, the last of the garlic Rondele soft cheese, and chunks of roast chicken. It was definitely a complete meal in your hand.

I ate it in the middle of a whirling dervish of a Misfits prep, when the box finally got here, through a massive thunderstorm.

Owing to consumer error, there are a lot of leeks. I meant two leeks, not two sets of two. Good thing I have the freezer. 

And between the leeks, scallions and white onions, I definitely have my share of the allium family.

I always prep rapidly, since the produce arrives cool and in good condition, and I want to get the best out of it, which means keeping it fresh or rapidly frozen while it's still at its best. I sound like a spokescook for Big Ag! Nooooo.

Anyway the cauliflower finally showed up, and my plans for it can now happen. The leeks and potatoes will be soup and possibly pasty filling. The broccoli will be just steamed, bit of butter. The mushrooms, who knows, they're always good somewhere. I expect if I try,  can figure out uses for the chocolate chips.

And the other items will find good homes in various dishes I have yet to figure out. The strawberries and blueberries might be jam. I wonder if you can make canteloupe jam.. with ginger? Must check.

After all this I sat down with a cup of tea and a little bowl of strawberries. They're different from our local ones in flavor.  Both are good. Our local ones are nearly done. The storm today probably didn't help, if the flattened plants on the patio are any indicator.

Nodding off now..

 

Swift substitute, old style

In the absence of a swift or a handy kid, this chair worked just fine for winding the skein of wool into balls. Enough resistance to hold onto the skein without chasing after the free yarn end, but no snagging in the process.

And here's total respect for quality, speaking of old style. Complete skein of pure wool, lace weight, several hundred yards. Color uniform throughout. Not a single knot. Perfectly balanced ply.  I repeat: no knots. 

I only rolled it into four parts in case I needed to use it double. And it's more wieldy in separate balls. There won't be knots in the finished product, either. I'll spit splice where needed.

Now I have to look out fine hooks.. I'm really into this. Storms in progress so I may as well be occupied indoors.

Winnowing redux and other plans

 I saw a bee on the lavender this morning, first one on it, which tells me it's nearly ready to pick and share. Bees are great indicators of when blossoms are ready.

Several friends will dry their share to use on the linen shelf, one, a great cook,  is planning an ice cream experiment. A day or two more sunshine will bring up the scent into the flowers.

And our cool rainy spring has kept the pansies going much longer than usual

And driven up a lot of foliage

Indoors, Winnowing is happening again. After waiting long enough to be sure, I'm moving along some crewel and other yarns.

They'll do well at the thriftie, when I get there. I've used all I can of them, and they're good quality, so someone may be happy.

This is the result of receiving an email about a yarn sale, which caused my Inner Cheapskate, I mean Green Warrior Guarding the Earth, to say are you sure you need to buy? Check upstairs 

And I did, finding the Winnowing material, also this, 

Beautiful fine wool, which I'd forgotten about and is  just like the thing that I nearly bought and now don't need to. And some fine cotton that will go with it. 

I don't have a great track record of rendering skeins into usable balls, not having one of those machine things (swift?)  but my mom didn't have one either. 

She did usually have a kid, me, though, available as a yarn holder and steady waver-about to keep the rhythm going without snagging the yarn and annoying the knitter.

The Tunisian Mitered Square learning seems to have reignited my Square hunger, so the skirt can wait a little. The weather's stormy anyway, not exactly skirt weather. Anyway that's my story.

No, I don't know what I'll make. I'll make squares until I find out.

Latest dispatch from the chai front and other reports as they break

I tried the chai last evening, as a replacement for my golden milk, and it went pretty well. The mix is a bit heavy on pepper for my taste, but it's a great improvement to hold down the sweetening. Just enough sugar to oppose the spices is fine for me. 

You use just a couple of teaspoons of the spice mix, simmer several minutes in a milk and water mix, strain and drink.

I might start trying out my own mixes. There's no ingredient list with this mix, but I identified cloves, cardamom, fennel seed, coriander seed,  caraway seeds, nutmeg, ginger and the base black tea, very finely ground tea though, not the big leaves. All of which I have.

And I found out how to dry the mix after use, by accident. I'd emptied the strainer back into the pan, thought it was switched off. Well, it was on the lowest setting. Good thing I went in there later, before the pan burned through. 

So I now have a little collection of dried spices which might work nicely the next time I make crackers. They still have flavor but it's muted, after what it's been through.

Today was a pasty day, mushrooms, hot sausage, onions. This is enough for two filings. 

And it was a day for while I'm at it cooking, meaning the oven will be at 400°f for the pasty baking, so I may as well roast a head of garlic while I'm at it.  Pasties need about 20 minutes, garlic nearer an hour.

So the garlic, muffled in foil, drizzled with olive oil, then completely enclosed, set into its own pan, went in while the dough was resting.

Today's dough, it's different every time, was lovely to handle, velvety, not sticky, just a treat. I rested it only 20 minutes, not the official hour, but I wasn't making tortillas, so I think that counts. And I pretty much guessed the quantities. 

I remembered at the last minute that I needed Parmesan cheese. And that it was solidly frozen. So I thought arghgh, then, wait, I bet my microplane will work for this. I mainly use it for zesting. And it did work lovely.

Then when I was cleaning up afterwards, I noticed on the blade guard

Now, no fair expecting me to read it. I was just feeling so smart for having this cool idea.

Anyway, a nice lunch happened, despite the cook.

Here's the garlic nicely roasted to where you can scoop it out to spread. The spoonful shows you. This will go into a jar for all kinds of uses, including garlic bread.

And the pasty was pretty good. Dressed up with a sprig of sage. See the blossoms? Like snapdragons. Also known as antirrhinums. 

The rhin bit tells you noses are involved, and it turns out this muzzle shaped flower head is named from its resemblance to a calf's nose! It's a brilliant piece of engineering.

That front petal bit serves to stop too small insects from pollinating it. They have to be big enough to push past it, so the designated bees get in and wannabes don't.

I saw this in action when I picked it, a couple of tiny insects trying  unsuccessfully to get in, and sort of wandering around looking for another door, I suppose. 

It occurs to me, a bit slow on the uptake, that cooking and inventing in the kitchen has taken the place for me, of making and exhibiting art.

It's an art form, as one of my art teachers pointed out to me reproachfully, when she found a few years ago I wasn't much into food, at least talking about it. 

It's art and invention and skills and technique and realizing connections you hadn't before. Just like studio art. And letting things happen and experimenting and listening to your materials. And rarely following instructions.

I'm finding that when I would go into the studio in the past is when I go into the kitchen now, with much the same attitude. Just a general idea, which will become a meal on a plate.

 Sharing with Handsome Son and neighbors is the new version of the art opening. 

Cool.

An amazing journey with Gerhardt Knodel and other incidents

Today was eye exam day, all fine, no work needed other than new glasses. The little drawback is that you can't do any close work, reading, stitching, any of that, until the dilation goes away. I tried writing one short email a bit early and promptly developed an ocular migraine. Oh 

So instead I made a batch of pancakes on the grounds of entitlement. Also on the grounds of having missed lunch because that's when the eye appointment was.

Strawberry ginger jam as a sauce. 

These did not last long.

I noticed my neighbor had uncovered his new Toy for Boy, a three wheeler, like a Jet ski on land. What fun.

Before all this  I was picking out which of my many white tops to wear, chose a lovely fine cotton shirt and realized I'd shortened it ages ago and neglected to hem it. 

So why not now, I sez, and you see the Tunisian Mitered Square working as s scissor fob already.

And here's the shirt. It's soft, very fine, buttoned roll-up sleeve. 

Perfect for hot weather which we haven't had much of yet. I probably got it from Dharma Trading, judging from the nice quality. It will go with that skirt I haven't made yet.

Then finally, later in the afternoon, after eye doctors and pancakes and vehicle spotting, I could see again.

So I checked into HGA Textiles and Tea, on Zoom, Tuesdays at 4. Since I don't have a fine craft background, the artists are almost all news to me, and a revelation of textile art.

Today it was this man, very congenial and skilled presenter on screen, retired Director of the Cranbrook Academy, prestigious fine craft school. 

He does enormous weavings, often using a Mylar warp, which is strong enough to hang two story high artworks. Google on him for more info, his work is amazing.

And here's his current loom,  in the studio, hi in Pontiac Michigan

And his latest book, not yet on sale

He's a great explainer of the evolution of his works, from early ideas to influences to drawings to finished artwork. Definitely worth checking out.

He's in his early 80s, and having finished the book, is planning on a return to his loom.

This was a much more interesting day than I'd expected.