Baked frittata or something

This was partly an attempt to insert vegetables into a day of fruit and cookies (meeting) and almonds. It's also an experiment that might be part of the next dinner I invite Handsome Son to.

Two eggs, shake of potato flakes, handful of carrot dice and green peas, milk, salt, grated cheddar, grated Parmesan, turmeric, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, shake of cumin. All whisked together.

Cast-iron pan went into oven to heat along with the oven, then the frittata poured into the hot pan,  baked at 375f for ten minutes. It was good. A wedge will be tomorrow's breakfast.

With soup to start, hot Italian sausage beside, banana apple ginger cake for dessert, will be pretty good for a dinner. Also new to him. I always like a bit of variety, though HS doesn't mind either way.

Breakfast in bed, celebrating me!

Banana apple ginger bread, warmed and buttered, pot of tea, thank you.

Note about the raspberry jam I shared with a neighbor -- he told me he's trying to make it last by alternating with shop bought jam! I think he's hinting I should make more.

Chili, chives and Cooper's hawk

Easy chili for lunch, from the freezer, and the first cutting of chives. They're the strongest tasting when they're early.

Checked on the mini greenhouse while I was out in search of chives, and the seedlings are starting to look like lettuce, little sawtooth leaves

Few minutes later, a Cooper's hawk settled in the tree nearby. No time for a pic. He groomed his feathers all blown about, brisk winds today, then left.

Raspberry jam for tea

Sudden need to have a bit of jam for tea. So, couple of handfuls of frozen raspberries, shake of sugar, blip of lemon juice, boil madly, little supply ready. Enough for a couple of teas.

The little jar is for a friend I promised some to, the next time I made jam. That was months ago, and I finally came through. He will have forgotten all about it and be surprised.

This all took about the time to boil the kettle. Jam can be very quick and spontaneous.

I was doing a matinee of Forsyte Saga, so the old fashioned jam and scones, with English Breakfast tea, fitted right in.

It's like having a part time job, watching the Forsytes. Several evenings went into the earliest production from the sixties, where the character actors who played the older family were worth watching, though the principals weren't.

How stiffly actors moved then, with all the wildly gyrating gestures meant to convey youth and energy. Except that Margaret Tyzack was wonderful as Winifred.

The later production from the 90s, I think,   I'm watching now is much less florid and more powerful. The older family members are overshadowed by the principals' acting.

Interesting to see which episodes from the original novel(s) are kept and which not, in the two versions.  It doesn't matter that the early one was black and white and the later one color, oddly. It's all about the acting.

Pi Day, 3.14

Spindle spinners celebrate Pi Day!

Lucy Worsley, recommended reading

Her latest, seen here with a handwoven bookmark. Stick weaving, done as a demo for a summer class I taught township kids, if you're interested, where was I.

Oh yes, she's an excellent historian and researcher, and writes exactly like her tv scripts, accurate, readable and funny.

She also points out which events and actions, originated with Victoria, have come down to the present day. White wedding dresses, public events, balcony appearances, photoshopping, Victorian style, of unflattering pix of royals.

Well worth your time if you like the nineteenth century, its quirks and foibles, as well as its history.

I'm a Worsley fan, any period of time. She shows how to be a fine scholar and researcher without being self important. And she's not above dressing the part, and having fun at work, a big point.

There has to be a better name than fish stew for this lovely food

It involves fish-- I used flounder-- potatoes, onions,carrots, anchovy paste, thyme,garlic, a bouquet garni of herbs from the freezer -- oregano, basil, curry leaves-- chicken bones, tomatoes, tomato paste. Some water and some of the pectin I made a while back.

Two Views of Mt. Counter

I blended it before the fish went in. After I fished (!) out the chicken bones and bouquet garni.

This bouquet thing sounds posh, but it's only a bundle of herbs bunged into cheesecloth and tied up. I don't know why chefs make a song and dance about it.

This dish takes a few stages, first the onions and thyme, and the carrots should have gone in then but unaccountably stayed on the counter, and got in later.

Then the garlic, anchovy paste since i didn't have anchovies, to cook till it smells great. Then  the potatoes, toms, water, all to cook tender. That's where I blended. Finally the fish, which takes only a few minutes.

Wait, I think it's a chowder. That's better.

It's good, too. The only drawback is that I couldn't spin while I cooked, that being the current reason for getting up in the morning.

Tiny greenhouse update

This morning, temp 30f, and the baby greens are coming through bravely. I just took off the top of the greenhouse for a minute to show you.

And the chives, unprotected, emerging year after year, undeterred by a bit of moss.

It doesn't feel like spring, but the plants only care about the light. They scoff at cold.

I should try that.

Shrove Tuesday, aka pancake Tuesday

Just under the wire. Remembered at 5pm, here's dinner at 5.15.

Drizzle of honey, then nice thin pancakes, more like crepes. Just the classic mix of flour, milk, melted butter, salt, pinch of sugar.

And more for tomorrow's breakfast.

Me, I laugh at the snow

After I finish being annoyed.  Was looking forward to seeing stitcher friends this afternoon, but a large snowstorm is scheduled to start, and I don't fancy driving home in it. 

So I will stay home,and later kick myself when yet again the storm veers off and misses us.

Meanwhile, lunch. Toasted home baked whole-wheat, spread with yogurt cheese, boiled egg broken over, scatter of capers. Gala apple dessert. 

I made the yogurt cheese from a container of whole milk yogurt, and saved some of the container to use as a starter for a homemade batch of yogurt. Last night I remembered to do it.

I now have a quart or more of it. Ages since I made yogurt, and this way I avoid bringing yet more plastic containers home.

It's not hard to do, it's remembering that's the issue.

So now I have a supply of yogurt and can use some of it to make yogurt cheese.

Medieval sort of day

Today was all about spinning, tapestry-weaving and bread baking.

I felt like one of those medieval women with a bunch of keys at their belt, and a pointy hat with a veil on the end.

i

For more on the fiber action, go to https://beautifulmetaphor.blogspot

Watching Versailles tonight, to get up on the latest news..

White Rabbits! Happy St David's Day!

First of the month means fresh flowers, seen here, with a little white chrysanthemum from February still going.

I saved the daffodils for later, but they would be appropriate for the day. Along with leeks, but they're not as scenic.

Dinner ahoy!

Handsome Son is coming to dinner tonight, and this usually fires up a frenzy of cooking. Usually my own dinners for a couple of days are included in the frenzy.

As here: chicken thighs and hot Italian sausage, to be roasted, with white potatoes and carrots in a bed of Parmigian shreds, seasoned with cayenne and seasalt.

And a banana/date/apple/chocolate bread with whole-wheat and almond flour. Note the missing slice, cook's privilege.

Pot of tea, too. Worth coming over for!

The tiny greenhouse brings news

Remember the tiny greenhouse I put out hopefully weeks ago, before several cold snaps, ice and snow?

Checked just now and there were a lot of tiny seedlings starting, most too small for my modest camera. This is the biggest.

The excitement of it all!

Grocery shopping or partying?

Made a simple trip to the Asian grocery this morning, Friday best, because stocking is happening but few shoppers. Usually.

Today I coincided with a huge crowd of seniors, three buses showed up to collect them later.  So the place was a cheerful madhouse. And it explained why there were no carts outside.

Pic taken once the crowd thinned enough for me to get into my bag and find my phone.

I couldn't leave because I was totally hemmed in by carts as people tried to wait in line in a space design for a lot fewer. I had to lug a basket because every cart was in use. A kind man indicated in sign language that I was to put my basket, now heavy, into his cart and we queued together.

A young man from the prepared food counter ran a cup of soup out to a lady in line, loud joy ensued, discussion of, I guess, soup broke out.

Several people chatted with me evidently assuming I spoke Mandarin, maybe because I was shopping in their crowd. Nodding and smiling worked, and I could guess the gist.

So what started as a swift errand turned into an interesting morning. Took fifteen minutes to shop, an hour to leave!

Lunch, with garlic spread

Today's lunch, roast chicken breast seasoned with cayenne and turmeric, seasalt, on wheat, oat and almond bread.

With the rest of that garlic spread I roasted ages ago and have kept in the fridge in a jar, tightly lidded. This is mainly to let you know the garlic held up fine. It makes a great spread.

I'd roasted it in olive oil in a small pan at 400 f for about an hour if I remember correctly, anyway till soft enough to spread. I wasn't sure how long it would keep, but the answer seems to be : ages!

Upstairs, downstairs, a saga

These lovely cutwork valances have finally made it to the windows.

Around here I give the orders, a la Upstairs, and execute them, a la Downstairs. As do most of us. And when the project involves both upstairs and downstairs, it takes deliberation.

Upstairs window

Downstairs window

Several years ago these lovely cotton cutworked pieces came into my life and I can't remember how. I probably rescued them.

Then Mrs Downstairs put them in the linen closet to await the right mood. Clean but scrunched up. Like Mrs D.

Years later, in thelinen closet, winnowing out the extra sheets and blankets to donate, Mrs Upstairs found them and  carried them up to the studio, where the iron lives, found the starch, even, and awaited Mrs D's pleasure. The iron and starch are there for art making purposes, but could be borrowed.

In the fullness of time,  Mrs D found a spring tension rod that fitted, ironed and starched one valance, and climbed up and fought the kitchen curtains, hanging plants and island to a standstill, got the valance installed, caught it when it jumped out of the window frame, reinstalled it, then went to lie down quietly for a few minutes.

Mrs U approved all these moves, and went on to find that the second valance for the window one floor up, needed  another rod. Ordered same, after mulling for a few weeks. Needed to recover the intrepid frame of mind for confronting window frames.

Today the rod arrived. The little screw and washer separate in the packing material, clever little miniature paper with instructions not explaining relations of components. Figured out.

Sent Mrs D up to starch and iron, promising this will never be repeated. Then Mrs. D climbed up through and among the plants in the upstairs room, the Nook. Installed the valance, glared at it to make it stay, made a getaway before it jumped out.

And Mesdames U and D take a bow, reminding you that you're not the only lady who keeps on having better things to do than iron and hang stuff. Years of better things.

But it does look nice, and it honors cutwork.

So there's that.

Quick before they vanish

Yet another snowstorm forecast today. In case this one, unlike the last two, arrives, here are the brave little snowdrops before they get buried.

These are the originals, growing for many years. The batch I planted a couple of years ago yielded one flower. Possibly chipmunks ate the bulbs.

Modom's tray. On its way.

Breakfast tray with newbaked bread. Egg on top not fried, not scrambled, a hybrid version.

The bread is the point here, since I changed the recipe a bit. Of the seven and a half cups of flour, 1.5 was oat flour, one was almond flour, the rest wholewheat.

Result is really good. Nice crust, dense crumb, great flavor. I made the oat and almond flour in the coffee grinder.

I like to look organized, but in fact I noticed the flours in the freezer as I was in search of the wholewheat, and thought I'd use them up. Must note this for future reference. 

If you try it please let me know how it goes.

Apple, raisin, banana bread, with redactions

Since Handsome Son is dropping by later for a cup of tea, and there wasn't a crumb of cake in the place, I jettisoned my plan to bake risen bread, and made a bready sort of thing, with bananas, raisins and a hefty amount of tart apple chunks from the freezer, using whole-wheat flour.

The recipe involves melting and cooling butter, which I do in the microwave. Usually I remember to take it out and add it to the batter.

It wasn't till later, cake baked and cooling that I noticed the flashing signal telling me to retrieve the dish of butter.

Interestingly, it seems to me that there's no difference from the times I've remembered the butter. I'm guessing because there was a ton of apple. It's still one of the better banana breads I've made. I gave it ten extra minutes in the oven  because of the apple. What's the function of the butter, then? I ask the expert bakers who read here.

I'll get Handsome Son's verdict later.

There is a Golden Guide about mosses and lichens

And I tracked it down and here it is

Evidently this title is what I should have intuited. Can't think why I didn't search in terms of what mosses etc aren't!

Exactly what I needed, just enough info to inform, not stultify. Now I need the snow to go away so I can moss hunt. And identify lichens.

More about natural life and observation

I did find a small book on mosses and other plants, and it's on its way.

Meanwhile, here's a wonderful book about Maria Merian, a seventeenth century self taught naturalist, great illustrator and intrepid woman.

A wonderful painter as well as a fine scientist before that word was invented, and a true naturalist who traveled to find and study species of insects, her knowledgeable artwork would influence Linnaeus, and later Audubon.

I've always turned to books written for children when I need an introduction to a subject. This book is for everyone. A beautiful  production, written respectfully, I really recommend it. And not a bad gift idea  if you know a young girl who is interested in science, and in art.

Finally out in field and fen!

Yesterday was warm enough for spring, and for walking without setting your face against the wind.

So I went down to the pond, which nowadays has a posh park name, and heard birds starting up, early, still ice on the water, but cheerful.

Reminder of the, ahem, historic nature of the place, so this counts as research, not just goofing off in the sun.

Sadly, the original residents, the Lenni Lenapi, were driven away long ago, commemorated here only by the name of the trail, and by local finds of clay lamps and arrowheads.

Looking at this whole small world of mosses, and wishing I knew more about them. Is there a Little Golden Book of Mosses and Lichens?

Home again, so long since I've been here.

Graphic novels, picture books for grown-ups

Since long ago discovering Maus, then more recently the work of Alison Bechdel, I've been interested in the graphic novel as an exciting art form. Not so much the retelling of classic works with illustrations, though the first graphic volume of Proust, Remembrance of Things Past, is brilliant, do look at it, but original works.

I'm hoping to get my book group to venture into them, so I'm doing a bit of research into what's good, what's available, and passing on my thoughts to the group leader.

Here are the three best so far, already recommended Bechdel and Maus's Spiegelman, and they're all great. The writer/illustrators all get the real point of this genre. Not just a story with pictures added, but a drama where the graphics act out the meaning of the script and add new dimensions to it. The way good actors take on and enlarge their script, or Hilary Hahn interpreting violin music. Check her on YouTube, one of the best musicians ever.

Maira Kalman gives us a wild careering ride through the mind of a brilliant artist, who takes in all the threads of life and imagination, every emotion you can have, in her The Principles of Uncertainty, the title already a riff on Heisenberg . And Bintel Brief is a new look at that famous phenomenon of the early twentieth century, the reader letters to the editor of the Forward, the Yiddish newspaper of the Lower East Side of New York.

You don't have to be a New Yorker to love her take on the letters and the shade of their editor. Then there's Notes on a Thesis, and you don't have to be a graduate student to follow the struggles of a young woman getting her Ph.D despite family, friends, even her own adviser and fellow students. The illustrations are a constant subtext.

So there's where I am now. Still reading books without pix, Guns of August, Night Circus, The Other Einstein, with dear old Less than Angels, favorite Pym. I love Catherine Oliphant, like dropping in on a friend.

But do try graphic novels, and if you already do would you please share your recommendations? I'd love to hear.

Mini green house in action

Finally got the mini greenhouse going. I tried a few days ago, all ready to go, out on the deck, container, tools, camera, determination, found the potting soil totally frozen. Oh.

Brought all the doings back indoors including the bag of soil, to thaw out. Then realized it was about twice the size that the little container could manage.

So today set up a row of pots and off-loaded half the contents into the pots ready for spring anyway.

Then had to staple shut the bag, after stabbing the drainage holes.  Then it fitted nicely, and I cut out the window, scattered the lettuce one side, parsley the other.

The sun obligingly came out to confirm this is a good spot. Then I fitted the container on to the lid, which snaps shut, see the red snap thing on the side, squirrel deterrent, and we're all set.

I'll let you know how it goes!