elainegrey

Happy New Year!

May we all find places of safety when the political reality is too much, may we all know compassion and kindness and joy. May our health improve. May we find success and joy and satisfaction.

--== ∞ ==--

I've just declared email and post reply bankrupcy. I'll probably try do to the same in other places i feel too overwhelmed.  I guess i could sort of manage a housework bankrupcy if we were willing to have someone come in and clean, but i think Christine's a little too fragile right now. The holidays, so many family gatherings, and possibly the dramatic temperature swings bring on the elephants.

I've gotten some postal greetings and small gifts out, some shipped on Christmas Eve afternoon, others shipped yesterday at ten minutes to closing. I have thank-you notes written last January still in my card box. Sigh.

--== ∞ ==--

Reading

Gift books include the requested foraging book, Nature's Gardens by Sam Thayer; Kintsugi: Finding strength in imperfection that was paired with the requested kintsugi kit, and Sedaris' Holidays on Ice. I'm proud i did not see that many books i needed to bring home from Mom's library because no shelves. Tsundoku for life.

A Passion for Specificity sits in Kindle for both Christine and i to read.

--== ∞ ==--

Food ways

Apple-cherry pie with Vietnamese cinnamon is good. Canned cherry filling is pricy, though, so i was glad to have also found a bag of clearance apples that filled out the one can of cherry filling i bought on impulse.  I am very pleased with my growing skill at prebaking pie crusts (i buy the rolled up pre-made crust, one step at a time). I don't usually put a crust on top because usually i'm making quiche. This time i followed some advice that you should shield the crust at the beginning to keep from being burned later. This advice was a fail for me, as the egg wash glued the crust to the shield and i think i was more at risk of burning as i tried to remove it. Still, the "2025" decoration survived and the attempt at making fireworks with colored sugar wasn't ... a complete fail.

Yesterday, i finally got around to air frying some frozen battered oysters: yum!  I had them on a bed of rice and limas seasoned with a poblano cheese spread i made when i over roasted the last of my poblano peppers. That has worked well to rescue that infelicity.

Black-eyed peas and Brussels sprouts (surely the tiny brassicas count in the good luck dining?) for dinner tonight, possibly with corn bread, although that seems to be calling some elephants as Christine has gotten tangled with this concept.

== Written previously ==

My brother's is in town with D-- who is studying for a Sunday morning SAT and S--. My brother does not stop working because ...  he blames being a partner in a law firm but i think it's workaholism.  He also plans poorly, which drives Christine nuts. If it didn't drive Christine so nuts i'd be much easier. The happy news is that, yay, Christine is working on being more easy with things not going as planned. I think half the issue is my brother doesn't really want to be working and would rather be visiting but he's not representing it as such. I offer to take S-- as company since otherwise she's with men who aren't really into play time, and i also got my brother.

The visit from my brother is at a awkward time because he arrived the day my sister's in-laws arrived to celebrate her eldest's high school graduation. So there's lots going on over there.  I've taken Monday off so i can put on a gather here  while my sister's fam will be at the beach.  I realize how much i have been happy to lean on my mother and my sister in planning. (My sister is EXTRA irritated with planning with my brother's visits, because of the imperious flailing.)

Last night was lovely though as N and S hung around until Christine was done with her evening chores and we played poker (Texas holdem') for a while. I'd nudged S-- in that direction as she bluffed her way through a number of go fish games a few years ago. She's a little more able this year, although she and i both probably stay in more than we should. I wonder if it might be useful to discuss odds as "if something happened once a week for a whole year and only one time does this particular type of thing happen" as a metaphor for the odds of getting a particular card

This morning has dawned cool and not-humid and i will go mow mow mow. I dried sage, oregano and thyme last weekend. I want to do something with All The Mint other than dry it. We have bread cubes for stuffing/dressing languishing in the pantry. An onion carrot mint bread casserole of some sort?  I have a 4 oz mason jar with a mint chimichurri still in the freezer. I should like more of that but maybe i will actually follow through and use it if it's in ice cubes. I keep wanting to make more barley for lunch and know barley in a mint dressing would be yum.

== Now Monday evening ==

Today seemed like all the kitchen. Plan order of events so that i can get to my Dad's with everything by lunch, because Christine is exhausted of people and is on her third migraine. (So the meal i am preparing for them i am bringing over there.)  To the grocery! NOTE TO SELF: do not buy the  red onion (that was triple the cost of the yellow and sweet onions) if it's going in at the beginning of a shrimp boil because all the color goes away.   Pick herbs and greens -- thyme thyme thyme for the broth and for garnish, mint to make tea, sochan to forget to add in at the end.  Make a berry filling, make a sweet ricotta filling, make a irregularly shaped Danish with Pillsbury crescent roll sheets (like this https://laurenslatest.com/easy-cheese-danish/) with the home grown berry filling (heavily corn-starched). Forget to wash with the whey (drained from the ricotta - i figured it would be like milk). Add spices, celery, onion, herbs to the pot then cut up potatoes and cover with two quarts of water so the potatoes don't go ugly.  Keep the trimmings in a container for stock later.) Boil some shrimp for Christine to leave on ice for her.  Shrimp is almost defrosted by the time to go. Get halfway there and realize i left the (tofurkey) sausage.

The day was gloriously pleasant, and we cooked on a nifty little butane eye. D-- shared how terrible the accommodations were at the ACT test he took on Sunday morning with at least one student passing out because of the heat. The shrimp boil turned out wonderfully, and i collected all the shells to put back in the broth to make stock.

At home, i pondered the bags of reduced cost banana peppers and bell peppers and wondered what to do with them. I had zucchini i wanted to dehydrate into "zoodles" so  three banana peppers and a bell went onto the trays with the three zucchini. I've stuffed two and air fried them -- wonderful with the rice made with the shrimp boil stock. I've made my loaf of buckwheat bread. The shrimp shell  stock and then, whomp, i'm done.

https://www.wral.com/story/after-sat-site-found-closed-parents-concerned-act-site-at-st-augustine-s-won-t-be-open-either/21462253/ This says it went smoothly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWNLCAnjp0s --HA.

== Now Tuesday morning ==

Anyhow, Friday my sister L and i have plans with M -- (brother N's wife) and their daughter S-- to go to the NC Zoo -- about which i have some misgivings but it's one of those giant habitat places so L-- says it's OK. I thought my brother was going to stay in the DC area with my father over the week my nephew was there for his summer seminar at Annapolis (to help him decide if he wants to join the Navy if he gets in to Annapolis), but Dad wants to come home (to his sweetie S--, i am sure). While they drive back, it's the local Juneteenth event, and i have bravely volunteered to help with set up.  Then it's Father's Day, and i had thought of that as a Stay At Home Quiet day, because Dad would be out of town, but N is all about another gather. Hrm. At the end of the month i have a road trip with Dad to a family reunion pot luck, where this is family from the early/mid 1700s.  cough

Anyhow. Dehydration turned out brilliantly, probably because it's not miserably humid. (The weather has been so lovely!)

health

EEEEEEEE. The cicada are here. I love the genus name, magicicada. I'm trying to focus on the magic part and not dwell on the OMG bugs part. Also i am participating in cicada safari and wondering how many is too many entries in iNaturalist

I am better from the cold, still on alert for coughing. Just fought off a cough with a cough drop -- i would love smaller drops.

I spent yesterday afternoon pickling onion scapes. Basically, one 12 jar for every hour... and a 3/4 quart jar filled. I water-bath processed the 12 oz jars and 5 of the 6 took. Christine offered encouragement that i would have "passed the class." I find myself worrying about air caught in the scapes. I want to give these as Yule gifts, although i'll be gifting the jar that didn't seal to my sister in law when i see her today (if she'll take it). For once i'd like to finish something without feeling the critical judgements from myself. I also underestimated how quick the whole thing would be, so there's that. Let's see, yay:

• i got scapes "in time" as they are opening up
• i noticed the black aphid infestation so i can treat it today with diatomaceous earth (also need to dust around the strawberry plot).
• i now know how to use my old stockpot with the basket from the instant pot as a water bath canner. (Will need two more racks  and then could do 15 4 oz jelly jars)
• i've written up my notes about the pickling brine in my kitchen notebook so presumably can use again.

I have to remember that fussing with food takes time, and with experience, improvement.

Other things:

• I did have enough just-ripe strawberries that Christine cut them up and sugared them in the morning for a lovely topping for an angel food cake in the evening. Very decadent. First fruit of the year. I suspect that it's going to be a bounty year. So many mulberries. Blueberries look great. Apples! And possibly a breba crop of figs.
• Christine is composing music for my eclipse video.
• After being cranky about my nexdock's track pad i remembered it's a touch screen - -and that worked brilliantly. The deer are hanging out in the meadow and compiling all the images into a video is fussy work (and i really don't know if its meaningful? but data collection -- what if i want to figure out if i can identify the deer, what if...) Anyhow, better! preservation, health

Good Yule, god Jul, and merry Christmas and a festive turning of the season.

I offer you virtual mulled cider (i didn't really make it this year, but it would be sweetened with molasses, and you'd be welcome to add Grand Marnier or spiced rum if you like), and a slice of sweet bread or a hearty gluten free buckwheat loaf studded with figs.

I have all my gifts wrapped and many ready to take to my sister's house tonight. It is the year of the Blackwing pencil accessorized with matching aluminum pencil caps, plastic sharpener, and aluminum pencil holder (for when you are down to a stub).  I did a sketch with one that i kept for myself. I got the "pearl" lead which is "balanced" and... yup, it's a pencil. Christine is a pencil aficionado so she's delighted with the ones for her.

A stationary note: i have a little A6 journal by my desk which i am using for an odd little dopamine hit at work. I've marked out shapes for every 30  or 15 min of the work day, and then i color them in with different patterns (nominally to indicate what i worked on) during the day. Complete whimsy, not to mean anything, but satisfies a tiny creative yearning for color and tactile creation. I'm not quite halfway through the book and i find myself worried about where the next one will come from. Is it time to order more? I guess its working if i worry about a dopamine fix.

I have made cookies with dried figs from 2022, finishing those. https://www.savingdessert.com/italian-fig-cookies-cucidati/ I've not iced them yet, but i'm pondering making the lemon icing and then dusting with home grown poppy seed and lemon zest.

The cooking meme going around reminds me how happy i was with the seasoning i made for the steamed cabbage, onions, potatoes, celery and carrots on Sunday night. I salted way more than i think i should and that seemed to be the right amount. Then i ground up dill, coriander, pepper corns, black mustard seed, and allspice and dusted with that and already ground celery seed. Grinding the spices before use was lovely. I've put whole seed in in the past -- that's what my mom did -- but this was just the thing. I also put two bay leaves in the boiling water. Not sure how helpful that was.

I need to figure out where to have dill and coriander/cilantro this spring. Some patch of fast spring plants (i can add the poppy seed) that gets nuked -- and hopefully kills most of the stilt grass -- after they grow. I think that might be in time for replanting with sweet potato.

The garden plot is a horror of weeds right now and i can't quite figure out what i want to do about it. "Nuke from orbit," is how i feel, but there are some perennial and self seeders buried under the horror of stilt grass.

Edited to add that Christine is posting haiku at https://17sounds.substack.com/ at least twice. There's a way to get it in your email if you like that. No idea how long she will pursue this, but i am being a cheer leader.

From Wednesday morning:

I think this is the first day at my desk this week that i wasn't in urgent mode. Can i work on the important-with-looming-urgency? Ugh.

--== ∞ ==--

Figs are doing well, although i've resigned myself to leaving some on the tree for wasps and spiders. I will need to ponder my pruning strategy this winter. I'm dehydrating at a lower temperature and the color is much nicer. I'm also not going to rock hard. Raisins aren't rocks and last "forever" at shelf temperatures, so why make the figs completely desiccated. The fruit jerky/leather is also working nicely. The ability to cook the fruit and then keep it in the fridge a while before dehydrating allows "stalling" dealing with very ripe figs.

Meanwhile, i've given away fresh ripe figs and eat them every day, myself.

--== ∞ ==--

Replacement dehumidifier didn't drain into its bucket but leaked on the floor. Now on yet another replacement cycle.

Left string trimmer and other tools in the rain. Battery definitely dead. Trimmer seems OK. Getting new battery AND a pole saw. Very very excited about the pole saw. I had a manual pole saw and lopper and need to figure out how to restring the cord that pulled the lopper bit. It wasn't satisfactory. Maybe someday.

In balance, i have done things with things i have ordered: pink shoes are polished, boots are dyed navy blue (LOVE!), and i have properly installed the curtain pull back hooks. Now i want to fix the curtain rod the previous owners left. (Metal fixtures are completely inconsistent in the house. The curtain rod is shiny brass, but i'm trying to move to oiled bronze in that room. I can't count the different door handle finishes.)

--== ∞ ==--

I managed to get outside and fight stilt grass yesterday. Will also skip the usual grocery run and do the same tonight. I'm frustrated about going to a conference just as the weather finally begins to moderate. Will cope with humidity. At least it's not hot. [And i *did* get outside and make more progress. Hoping i can get into a habit that i can keep and make good progress.]

--== ∞ ==--

I've just made some notes about things to do near and nearish to the Hilton Minneapolis. I'm pondering the Swedish Museum on Friday, between conference ending at noon and flight leaving at 5 pm. The Foshay building observation deck seems like it might be nice, too.

I want to panic about clothes but i am trying to tell myself it is going to be OK.

Fixed this Sunday for lunch and was delighted with how it turned out. I rushed some over to my sister who has Covid. Lunch yesterday and will be lunch today.

## Potatoes and tapioca savory dish

Yield: 4 servings as a side or 1 to 2 as a main per original recioe

- 1 cup medium tapioca pearls, rinsed and soaked, see note

- 1 1/2 good sized sweet potatotes, oven roasted, peeled, cubed. (50 min at 350°F was just on the edge of too soft and too done.) This seems like more potato than the original

- ½ cup to one cup  peanuts (i used a mix of dry roasted with and without salt, so i didn't add alt otherwise)

- chiles (i used urfa biber and some small green tomatoes), more heat would have been OK

- 1(3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and  minced

- a small bit of onion, minced (i used a couple small garden onions, a little less than the amount of ginger)

- 3 tablespoons butter (can be replaced with some neutral oil and some salt)

- 1 teaspoon caraway seed (cumin was called for; fennel might be interesting)

- 1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice


## Preparation

Rinse tapioca a couple of times. I did not wait for water to be clear which may be why it turned out more gelatinous. Soak for 4 to 5 hours, or until water is mostly absorbed and tapioca pearls are easily squashed when pressed between your thumb and forefinger.

1. Set a frying pan over medium heat and add peanuts. Swirling constantly, toast them until shiny, aromatic and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Pour immediately onto a plate to prevent overcooking. Wipe pan, and return to stove.

2. Heat frying pan over a medium flame and add 1 tbsp  butter (oil). When oil shimmers, add aromatics (ginger, onion, seeds). When cumin begins to sizzle, stir in reserved chile-ginger mixture, and stir

3. Slowly add potato cubes and more butter. Try to get some searing on the sides to hold them together. Toss around a bit.

4. Start adding  tapioca mixture. I got some starch adhering to the pan, and then with my continued turning with the spatula, the starch gelled (tapioca is translucent and chewy). I got a gooey mass that is delicious. Probably depending on tapioca age, soaking, rinsing, this could turn out more pilafy.

5. Splash with lime juice. Since i already had a mass, i covered the pan and let it steam


Adapted from

NYT Cooking. “Sabudana Khichdi (Maharashtrian Tapioca Pilaf) Recipe.” Accessed August 27, 2023. [https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021372-sabudana-khichdi-maharashtrian-tapioca-pilaf](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021372-sabudana-khichdi-maharashtrian-tapioca-pilaf).

Took yesterday off. I got four hours out in the yard. I could have had more, but hadn't realized how shady it was after five -- the day length is changing, and maybe the yard is in full shade as early as 5 pm? (It was full shade at 6 pm.) The drive circle is fully weeded, and i completed the rain garden last Sunday. The squash at the king trellis is recovering, but i don't know if there's enough day length for any more squash. (More sprouted -- away from where i had planted. Did insects carry off the seeds?)

I picked a two quart basket full of figs, simmered them with a splash of lemon juice (color preservative), and then used the immersion blender to finish pulling apart the skins. Could have done that step longer. Cleverly used the mesh wire colander as a splash guard. Dehydrated as fruit leather overnight. Not bad at all! No added sugars. I think if i cut the round tray into quarters, i could easily pack in a plastic bag in the freezer. I'm not sure why this wouldn't keep shelf stable when the figs themselves are shelf stable, but i do dehydrate the figs into rocks.

Picking the figs early gets me to the tree before the wasps and ants. I evicted one spider from the tree this morning. I am trying to get over my arachnophobia but falling off the ladder due to my startle reflex seems like something to take steps to avoid.

We splurged on watching both episodes of Ahsoka since i took the day off.

I can't seem to journal (here and in my to-do & to-done list where i am recording more data, less narrative), read, and check mail all in one morning any more.

I'm doing better.

On Wednesday i could see two fawns eating the base of the bearsfoot with a cloud of tiger swallowtails around them. The bearsfoot (Smallanthus uvedalia)is an amazingly good wildlife plant. It grows from small sprouts in mid April to a towering colony of big green leaves on thick stems crowned with yellow daisy like flowers. The flowers aren't as pretty as other summer yellow daisy-like flowers, but the pollinators adore them especially the tiger swallowtails. I've seen humming birds at them as well as all sorts of bees and a variety of butterflies, but the swallowtails are so large that seeing a dozen or more working their way around is remarkable. The seeds will start forming soon, and then songbirds will start dining as well. The stems are home to overwintering bees.

Marlowe's predation this week: last Sunday, a young bunny. Friday, a cotton rat.

Figs ripening. I missed the first ones - ants and wasps found them. They're all high in the top of the tree. Maybe this will motivate me to prune it back more significantly this fall.

There are two chestnut clusters ripening in the west-most chestnut tree: squeee!!

Of the early summer processing of green walnuts and peaches, the green peaches in sugar has been the best. It's a syrup of divine aroma. The other green peach efforts suffered by the fruit being too green. The green walnuts never worked for me, really. The ground green walnuts up with figs turned out ok, although i do thing that had more to do with the figs and good cinnamon. Some green walnuts simmered in syrup had operator error in the cooking as the syrup is very stiff and caramelized. I've saved it as i can imagine using the syrup in some figgy concoction, not unlike the fig marmalade.

I've not used the dehydrator except to dry some lemon peel. I'm imagining making a furikakae inspired mix of lemon peel, mint, and poppy seeds to sprinkle on things. The furikakae i made with (very old) nori and freshly bought sesame seed (and some other things i'd have to look up) has been lovely with tomatoes and cottage cheese and tomato sandwiches. There was a New York Times recipe for tomato sandwiches that i gave a side eye, but since i had the old nori i decided to give it a try and i am so glad i did.

Work is OK. I did spend some time this week trying to catch up with stacks of flagged emails and to-dos, and feel a little less flailing. I'm letting myself take the time to go through notes at ends of meetings. I am using a tool that is essentially an audible check-list, allowing time to do each thing on the list. So i have a 30 minutes of "time boxes" to do things like look at email, the chat, my notes, the ticketing system, etc. I'm finding these audio check lists great help in all sorts of daily things -- i assume people who develop habits can lean on them the way i am the list.

Christine went and bought a PlayStation gaming console in ... June. I think i've mentioned. I didn't think i would be interested. But i started playing with the game that came with the console (Astro's playroom) and ... it essentially teaches how to play video games. It was cute, and i could find things just at my ability level. Meanwhile, i was watching Christine play Jedi Survivor, learning the visual vocabulary of the game and enjoying the storyline. Eventually, i decided i would play and ... wow, it's engaging. I am surprised how engaged i am.

I will admit it is a distraction, along with all the other distractions.

Still coping without a dishwasher.

We need to repair the damage carpenter bees and woodpeckers have done to the house. I am not having luck getting recommendations on NextDoor, so now chasing various handyman posts.

Adventures in food for the week include continued fussing with green walnuts and green peaches, and making mint chocolate yogurt popsicles.

https://foragerchef.com/cooking-with-green-walnuts/ is a well written overview of possibilities for green walnuts.( in media res )

The green peaches i picked at my sister's. The first thought was to make some umeboshi equivalent, but then i found umeboshi are made with ripening plum/apricots, not green. ( Read more... )

Finally, my delight: the mint chocolate popsicles. I started with a large bundle of spearmint from the yard, and chopped it up, stem and all. Maybe a cup, two cups packed? I massaged in 1/2 cup of sugar and left to macerate for 30 min or so. I then added 1/2 cup very warm half and half. The foodie recipes advise cream with a yogurt base, i was thinking of our soy milk, but the half and half was there. I let that steep for about half an hour. I suppose if i had not warmed the milk, the mint extract may have stayed green, but with the warm milk, the strained result was a dingy color. So i resorted to antique green food coloring. I can't imagine it gets any less healthy with time, so whatever. This mixture tasted WONDERFUL. Very sweet (but apparently cold reduces the impact of sweetness). Then i mixed in enough of my 0% Fage Greek yogurt to make two cups -- the volume of my six popsicle container. I poured in the blend, paused to add chips and/or chocolate syrup, then continued.

Today, ahhh! Just wonderful. The tart yogurt, the refreshing mint, and the studs of chocolate. The chocolate is the least ideal of all the parts. I might just leave it out next time. The chips are hard, and i think too much syrup would lead to structural failure. Little fudgy bits would stay softer, i think.

Ah:
* https://food52.com/blog/13140-why-the-chocolate-chunks-in-your-ice-cream-are-gritty-how-to-fix-it
* https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-make-chocolate-chips-swirls-ice-cream-mix-ins

Good to know if i make this for other people. The mint by itself is wonderful to me.