So. Close.

When you’re trying to use up all the yarn in your stash, the potential for playing yarn chicken is high. Note the nine unbound stitches remaining. NINE. Ugh! I do not want one pattern repeat of yarn left over AGAIN in the stash. 

By some miracle, I had leftover yarn from my Shalom Cardigan (2009) that was a precise match, though not quite the right thickness.

The yarn substitution worked out perfectly, and after a nice wash, I have a cozy, squishy new lap blanket. 

And I can’t tell which corner has the substitute yarn for the last 9 stitches!!

Yarn is hand-spun by Anne Cohee for the 1990 Maryland Wool Show. The sheep was a brown Romney named Helga. I had 10.5 skeins of yarn, which was held double for this project.

So, the sixth Done by Monday blanket, the “Basketweave,” is ready for someone’s lap. Finally cut the ends off today, but the knitting has been complete for a month… 

These blankets have a true and recorded legacy. So fun!

And finally, a few baking projects. These sourdough rolls are wonderful, and I keep losing the recipe. So here is the LINK. I reduce the sugar to 1-2 Tablespoons. 

And for Easter I finally baked the gluten free Hungarian Hazelnut Cake. Prepare to drool and fantasize eating a slice every day! I took some suggestions from the comments and wrapped/refrigerated the baked cake over night. The apricot jam in the middle and whipped cream (with a little added powdered sugar) on top is also very good. I decided to freeze a few slices, and there was not harm done to taste or texture when I ate them a week later. I do think that I will split the layers next time and try the cake with whipped cream in the middle. Other suggestions were to add vanilla to the cake batter and some flavored liquor such as Frangelico to the whipped cream. 

Catching Up

Whew! June was a bit crazy (as was May), and I have a half dozen posts to catch you up on. Let’s start a little off-topic (blog-wise) with my birthday project, which kicked off a new decade for me. 

During the pandemic, one of my dear friends asked what musical project was next for me, and I had a lame knee-jerk answer that would basically be a repeat event. A few days later I knew that I really wanted to conduct an orchestra of women in a program of women composers. And then the planning started. 

I was lucky enough to work with many local friends in the freelance community and take some conducting lessons to polish my baton work with a friend from college. We performed a program of music by Elfrida Andrée, Amélie-Julie Candeille, Jordan Jinosko, and Jessie Montgomery. It was a crazy amazing challenge and experience!

Composer Jordan Jinosko was kind enough to drive down for a rehearsal, talk to the musicians and give me feedback.  Of course, I had to introduce her and her partner to the alpacas, and they all loved them both!

A long-time stand partner of mine played for me and had these fun shirts made for the orchestra members. They were designed and produced by another musician who was unable to play in the orchestra. What gems!

The project was a terrific way to ring in a new decade! I am so thankful for the enormous community that helped me make my dream become a reality. This orchestra program really focused the lens on how people in my community are my most valuable resource. I am deeply humbled and grateful for all of you!

Happy birthday to me!

 

Weekend of Treats

It was a weekend to write home about: three days, holiday celebration, beautiful weather, delicious food. I started my weekend out with a hike at Westwood Park. There is a nine mile hiking/biking trail around a pretty little lake. Many funny signs warn you about "no exit" so you can plan your turn-around in case you don't think you will make it. It was a great trail with lots of variety and just a little up and down to keep the blood pumping. 

Lots of wildlife was out and about. Besides these nesting Bald Eagles, I saw several varieties of woodpecker, a King Fisher, snapping turtles on a log, and your more common cardinals, jays, sparrows, and robins. Also importantly, there was a team of trail workers removing the invasive honeysuckle.

At school I've been teaching a legion of elementary children how to play Hot Cross Buns on the violin. The Farmer claimed he had never heard of the song (I blame his formative years spent in Panama) and found this classic polka version of the song. Students, teacher, and Farmer all delighted! 

I also got curious as to the history of the song and took a wikipedia deep-dive. And then I had to learn about the pastry, and then I had to make some on the appropriate day. There were plenty of leftovers... I used this recipe  as a base (omitting cranberries), adding cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and candied citron. They were delicious!

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For Easter dessert, I found this delicious recipe for strawberry cream. It was super easy and delicious.

The previous week I made the Smitten Kitchen chocolate buckwheat cake, which the cat definitely would have eaten a slice of. It had a very earthy flavor, and almost seemed healthy, haha! And maybe Covid baking is here to stay. 

This is a not-so-funny version of the Easter Bunny who showed up on the deck Easter morning and sent me to the internet for removal strategies. Groundhogs eat 1.5 pounds of fresh food every day, and since I'm unwilling to say good-bye to gardening, this one has to be relocated. I'll keep you posted... 

Wishing everyone a great spring!

Baking and Food Updates

Hang on, friends, it's going to be a long post! I have so many windows open on my phone and computer, "saving" all the recipes that I have used to make our life delicious at home for the last few months. It's time to close all the browsers and save the info someplace more useful. It's still the pandemic and there is still a baking trend that I am a part of!

I found a new recipe for the Sachertorte. I really like how easy the chocolate shell was to apply and smooth. My comment for improvement would be to add additional apricot jam between the layers of the cake, or split the layers into more layers for more jam to sink in. This cake was moist and delicious and lasted most of a week at room temperature.

The popularity of regular challah bread at our house was lapped by even greater excitement about rye challah! I used Molly Yeh's recipe and promptly needed to purchase more caraway seeds. The nutty texture of the bread is delightful. The only downside of the recipe is that it only makes one loaf. I was smart and froze half immediately before it disappeared.

Some people want me to believe that cream cheese and olives is the best way to enjoy this bread.

The next cake we had to make and eat was pistachio cake with cream cheese frosting. Check the sweetness after adding each cup of sugar in the frosting. I used a lot less than recommended and still thought it was well-sweetened. The cake was outstanding!

Around this same time, we started harvesting our first arugula greens from the garden. 

And also were happy to have some radishes, though they quickly got woody.

I thought I would make a strawberry pie with this sourdough discard pie crust recipe, but it was such an unusual and savory flavor that I made a veggie pot pie instead. I highly recommend warming up the leftovers in the oven to avoid soggy crust syndrome. Super yummy, even if you substitute some veggies for others that you have on hand.

Impulse purchase of plantains? Make some plantain chips with olive oil and salt in the oven for 20 minutes!

Hands down the most delicious food I have ever eaten was this almond torte with strawberry sauce. I skipped the rhubarb because I don't really like it and didn't have any. This will be our birthday cake moving forward. WOW!

I once again had to save the gooseberries before the chipmunks sampled all the unripe ones. Instead of freezing the green berries right away, I stored them in the fridge for a few weeks and they ended up turning red after all!

Instead of making jam, I decided to try a gooseberry chutney instead. It was a nice change to the normal sweet stuff. The type of vinegar you use makes a difference, so I recommend not changing to, for example, apple cider vinegar...

I found the lemon lavender scone recipe my friend won the Indiana State Fair with a few years back. This was to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary. I used Ponderosa lemon juice and rind from our own lemon tree.

New beets at the farmers market inspired an experiment to duplicate the salt roasted beets at the Purple Pig restaurant in Chicago. 

I cut and roasted the beets for 30-ish minutes with olive oil and salt at 350* in the oven. I mixed them up once or twice during the baking. Then I smeared peanut butter on the bottom of a plate, piled the cooled beets on top, added salt to taste, crumbled chevre and chopped pistachios on top. Oh my YUM!

Not pictured in this culinary wonderland was the peanut butter granola that The Farmer made, the "artisan" sourdough bread that turned out nothing like the video, but tasted amazingly of molasses, and an emergency peach crisp that I had to make when a box of peaches wouldn't ripen but started spoiling. 

Have a delicious day! 

Life Happens, and It's All Good!

A ridiculous amount of life happened between early June and the present, and it has left me short of breath and unmotivated to talk about every little thing on the blog. So let's recap the big events, and move forward with important projects, like knitting, in greater depth later.

First of all, I celebrated a Landmark Birthday, for which my mother and I baked a total of nine cakes. There was a very random approach to invitations, but the turnout was good and about half of the cake was eaten. The rest lives in the freezer and we are slowly nibbling our way through it.

From right front, counterclockwise: Mulberry Jam Cake with pecans, Traditional Family Birthday Bundt Cake, Sachertorte, Streusel Cake, Waves of the Danube, English Cake, Egg-Heavy Cake, Mulberry Jam Cake w/o nuts, Hazelnut Macaroon Torte.

 Gardening has been late but steady. I did get a head start on potatoes and onions, and we have had several meals with our own potatoes. So delicious!

First potatoes, mid-June!

Young onions

Getting ready for harvesting

Spindly tomato starts...

Become this WALL of tomato plants. Note to self: don't plant so close together next time, no matter how tiny.

Bean explosion, but no edibles yet.

New project: Buckwheat!

In between feasting on sweet baked goods and putting in a garden, I spent an absurd number of vacation hours at school, cleaning out my room. The first impulse was due to the custodians threatening to throw everything not cleared off surfaces or still lying on the floor into the trash. Then I applied for a new job at a local high school. Then I got offered the job, and then the clean out became even more necessary. I did not realize how much stuff I took down there... It's time to toss some things in earnest. And move into my new office!

In the middle of job interviews, we went on a scheduled Landmark Birthday Trip to Lexington, VA, where we rented a cabin just outside of town and then enjoyed driving and hiking in the landscapes, sightseeing, local farms and breweries, and excellent restaurant dining.

We learned about polyface farming techniques at Broadview Ranch. The farmers fence their cows and pigs into really small fenced spaces, and move them almost daily. Then they bring in the chickens behind them. The chickens scratch the manure which spreads it for fertilizing, and also eat the bugs that inhabit the cow piles.

"Coop-estoga wagon" houses 175 chickens!

 Yarn stores were located, visited, and lightened of merchandise...

A delightful view from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This is the bell tower of the Robert E. Lee chapel, which is on the campus of Washington & Lee University in Lexington. I had no idea that he was the president of this college for many years after the Civil War ended. His final resting place is in this chapel.

A must-eat location, The Red Hen prides itself on its locally sourced food. We ate here twice and it was well worth it. Everything was fresh and in season. We did chuckle about the "local" cheese plate. Its contents were purchased at a local shop, which basically got cheeses shipped to it from the entire world. I guess being a locavore has its limits.

We took the tour of Stonewall Jackson's house, but I was particularly enamored by his gardens. Someone took a great deal of time and effort to re-establish what was grown there and label everything in great detail.

The Jackson's had COLD FRAMES!!! These are newly built, of course.

 After our week in Lexington, we met my husband's family at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland, for our traditional family reunion vacation. Several nieces and nephews "took some lessons" with Auntie E on the violin. They performed the D-A-D song, the Ant Song, and Mississippi Hot Dog Rhythm with the bow at a very informal concert the night before we left. Nothing is more wonderful than sharing music with young family members!

And finally, today is a big day on the farm. Cassidy turns ONE already! She is a beautiful animal and so full of love and curiosity. Today she just followed me around the pen like a dog while I was taking pictures.

Happy Birthday Cassidy!

 A little while after I crouched down to her level, she just sat down next to me and let me pet her for a good 15 minutes. These were some of the resulting pictures:

Snuggle bug

Silly friends!

As I mentioned earlier, there is important knitting content in production. I will not clutter this post up any more, and leave you to wonder about it until I get another opportunity to post.

Till then, Happy Summer!