bee creative

condiments

There are at least three uses for condiments that I can think of.

1. To mask the flavor of something you don't enjoy.
2. To compliment the flavor of something being eaten.
3. To add a contrast in color or texture. 

Yesterday's butternut/cheddar quesadilla could have used some of the onion jam (From Naturally Sweet Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan) made this morning.

I'd try again but I'm out of squash for the moment. 

I also made Finnish mustard (recipe from Falling Cloudberries  by Tessa Kiros). 

....

Considering how a scrap of fabric might be a condiment.

One of Jude's thread crumbs surrounded by scraps from my dye pots and leftovers from the shirt I just finished making. 

A moon that I dyed, cotton in pomegranate. The gold fabric below is also pomegranate but the fabric is raw silk and it was dyed in a cast iron pot. 

And now I'm thinking about compost...

friday field notes on saturday #28

After a couple weeks of freezing weather it's warmed up.

It was a lovely dry day with a high of 46 F.

Perfect for a bit of pruning, replanting the garlic that heaved up in the freeze because I didn't plant it deep enough and a bit of garden clean up.  The chickens even got a bit of straw for their run.

Lovely things were discovered, like this tomatillo husk.

A huge flock of geese flew over, heading north (video here).

The song birds were busy foraging and three hummingbirds zoomed by. 

For the next 3 months there will only be one farmer's market per month.  Except for the broccoli, these vegetables are most of what remains from my last trip.  I also have potatoes, onions, garlic and a winter squash.  The challenge for the next three months is to buy as little non local produce as possible and still make healthy meals.  

Some of these went back in the refrigerator, ready to pull out and cook this week; the rest was steamed for use in salads or wraps for the next few days. 

...

I hope everyone is warm enough, cool enough and staying safe...

second try

A tip from Jude made all the difference...thank you!

Much better results.

This I believe...we are all more creative in community. 

...

There are about 6 inches on my sweater now.  

I like watching the increases grow and am keeping much better track of my rows this time.

...

 

Despite the cold weather there is still some good eating to find in the garden.

Just add a handful of fried potatoes or some eggs or pasta....

Maybe they are leftovers?

...

I've shared this once or twice before but always seems so very perfect to me this time of year:

I heard a bird sing in the dark of December

A magical thing and sweet to remember

"We are nearer to spring than we were in September."

I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.

Oliver Herford

 

an icy walk and tasty cookies

A white Christmas didn't happen for me but an icy one certainly did...

From today's walk at the neighborhood park.

Yesterday I made a lemon roll for dessert.  There was a little cake batter left as I don't have a full sized cookie sheet/jelly roll pan so I poured it into my madeleine pan.  It didn't seem unreasonable as more than one description I've read is that that madeleines are "French butter cakes." Having said that, there is no butter in this jelly roll recipe (from my 1978 edition of a Betty Crocker cookbook).

Oh my gosh are these good!

Next time I just might make all "cookies." 

Aren't you glad I didn't eat them all by myself Mom?

just fine & at the kitchen table

The most typical response to "how are you" around here might be "just fine." It's the polite answer. This came up in line at the farmer's market a couple weeks ago with someone who was from Hawaii.

I might start shaking things up and start answering, "grateful," "content," or "working towards fine."   Considering what it means to be "fine" and what options I might try while I knit a little...

The sweater I'm starting over and a stripe for the field note blanket. 

The stripe is a little over 4 months worth of spinning and knitting.  It's going to be a two year project at the rate I'm going. 

This morning I listened to a podcast about emotions while I was knitting.  Very thought provoking.  It's also a sad story.   

and stitch a little.

Threadcrumbs from Jude.  I'm not sure what it's going to be.  I just wanted to start. 

I'm better at starting then finishing.  

Today was the last of the weekly markets for awhile. Carrots, beets, apples, brussels sprouts, bread and cheese.

I'll roast the brussels sprouts because they really are best that way but no plans for the beets and carrots. 

Maybe pickled? Sour things taste good to me in the winter. 

How are you?

 

I can make that... but I don't need to.

There are times when I look at something and think: "No you don't need to buy that, you can make it."  It might be a loaf of bread, a card or two, maybe a sewn project. 

There's not really anything wrong with that, but there are times when I think it's necessary to say "Yes, buy that.  Support the work of people you appreciate and love, support the uniqueness of someone's making."  Yesterday I bought the loaf of bread and I wrote messages in these beautiful cards (thank you Hazel!) and passed them on to others who loved them as much as I do.  

This is a mixture of make and support...

Yarn was hand dyed locally, purchased at one of the local craft sales. 

I cast on 49 stitches and then knit in the round, purl one & knit one until I had just enough yarn left to bind of the edge. 

I'm going to be wearing this one a lot.   

This is a bit of a mixture of making too. 

Parsley from the garden and garlic from the farmer's market. Plus lemon juice, olive oil, and a pinch of cumin.  I used it as a dipping sauce for roasted beets, steamed carrots and radishes and Hakurei turnips (these are small turnips that I eat raw).

I had left over sauce so I added it to tonight's risotto. 

Wishing everyone a lovely meal. 

 

 

 

 

 

at the kitchen table #6 and a forest grows

Lunch

Same soup in both jars.  Two cups of chopped butternut squash, one onion, 4 cups of water, a bit of olive oil (for softening the onions) and a bit of salt.

One blended and one not. 

The one that's not blended will be made into a minestrone soup later in the week. 

Today's soup had a spoonful of spinach pesto blended in.

Dinner

Radicchio. 

Dinner tonight with blue cheese, apples, bacon and candied pecans.

I was sad when the bowl was empty. 

And there is a forest growing in the windowsill... 

 

at the kitchen table #5

I tend to think of cooking as an equation.

Fresh spinach from the farmer's market

+ spices

(Mustard seed, cardamon, ginger, turmeric, pepper and orange peel.)

+ cheese:

+ buttermilk and onions = everything I need to make Saag Paneer.

Now it's time to cook that spinach!

at the kitchen table #3: burnt around the edges (also known as fry in olive oil)

Broccoli+ oil cured olives + roasted tomatoes.

If the broccoli is fresh enough include the leaves.

A fall treat, sugar pumpkin sliced thin and fried with in olive oil + a sprinkle of a favorite spice mix. 

The rest of the pumpkin is being steamed in the oven so that I can make muffins or something similar tomorrow.

1/4 cup salt + a whole head of garlic blended into a paste in my mini food processor.

For one or two quick and easy servings of garlic bread, add a bit to some heated olive oil and fry a slice or two of bread.

P.S. The garlic salt keeps very well in the freezer for quick and easy garlic flavor.  Just remember to not add additional salt. 

at the kitchen table #2: snow day

Strange things are growing in the garden...

I wish I'd thought to pick the last of the flowers for the kitchen table...but this is beautiful too, in it's own way.

Cooking from the pantry today.  I've been working my way through a cold virus and decided it would be better to rest today instead of going to the farmer's market.

 

Started with making polenta/cornmeal.  My favorite method is from Lynne Rossetto Kasper's book The Italian Country Table.  (I've said it before I'm sure, but I love this cookbook.)

I make a double boiler with my big stock pot and mixing bowl.  1 cup of cornmeal and 3 cups of water; cover with a lid and cook until soft and creamy and not bitter. This will take at least an hour.

While that was cooking, I tossed just about every tomato I had left (all from the garden, picked green and ripened inside the house) in a generous amount of olive oil, sprinkled some salt on top and baked in a 350 F. oven.

While the oven was going I decided to roast the last of the brussels sprouts I had as well.  Brussels sprouts are good keepers in the fridge.  If I buy a 1 pound bag from the farmer's market they will usually last two weeks for me. 

Lunch is served: A scoop of soft polenta, a couple spoonfuls of tomatoes and brussels sprouts, a few chunks of cheddar cheese and a grind or two of pepper. 

The polenta that I didn't eat for lunch was put into a shallow square pan so that I can slice it and fry it for later meals.  The tomatoes will make several more meals as well, either as a topping, made into a sauce, added to a grain salad, or into a soup. 

Hope everyone has a joyful meal today!