Knitting, Singing, the Universe and all....

PATACONES   -made with green plantains - if they have gotten yellow & spotty, they will not stand up to this treatment! Heat about an inch depth grapeseed or peanut oil in a deep skillet. Slice 4-5 green plantains into about 1 1/2" chunks, and then remove the peel. Fry the plantain chunks until lightly golden, drain on paper towels. When a bit cooler, take a heavy pot and squash the plantains  flat (they look like "large paws" - patacones -) and dip them (do not soak them!) into a bowl of salted water  (about 2c. water and a tbs. or so of sea salt) then carefully place them in the hot oil and fry again until crispy brown! Top patacones with guacamole and fresh salsa, or a garlic/mayonaise combination- they are a great alternative to chips and crackers. Best when eaten hot!!

Now that we have finished running about between Missoula and Portland like bees buzzing between flowers, I can tell you all about my favorite kitchen "gadget" this year..... the Pickl-It from the wonderful People at Pickl-It . I got a set for myself and  my sister-in-law, - since we both are fermenting fiends. A few years ago, I had gotten a Harsch Gairtopf crock (see earlier posts regarding sauerkraut making) because I was tired of skimming my 'kraut. Essentially, I love kitchen science, but I'm even more enamored of  accomplishing kitchen crafts with less oversight! The Harsch crock has a wonderful "burping lid" water lock system that allows you to leave your crock unattended for several days at a time while the fermentation beasties work in a safe environment. My Harsch crock is in almost constant use, and I would never give it up. But there were still times when I wanted something smaller....for those tiny baby carrots, or the 3 small heads of gard

We have a Rhubarb plant... Every spring, we get at least three large harvests from our wonderful pie-plant! This year, i thought we could do something beyond pies or crisps or stewed toppings for ice-cream.   So I chopped up about 8 stalks and simmered it in a simple syrup concoction (1 part sugar to 2 parts water - this batch used 4 cups of sugar and 8 cups water). Simmer this until the rhubarb seems to have fallen apart and is just a globby bit of green.  Strain the syrup from the rhubarb bits and bottle.  . We got about 3 liters (see the discombobulated rhubarb remains behind the bottles?) Jon made "Rubarb-A-Ritas" 2 double shots of tequila, a cup of the rhubarb syrup, and enough ice to cover the liquid in the blender.  WHIRRRRRRR Pour into a martini glass, rimmed with sea salt and garnish with a lemon slice.  Kids will like their rhubarb syrup mixed with some soda water (Rhubarb Soda Pop!) or in their lemonade :-)

First, the camera I have known and loved for 4 years decided to come down with photographic-parkinsons, and then we were incredibly deluged with Missoula Community Chorus responsibilities : Hiring a new Chorus Manager (Andy Morris - he's great!), then interviewing, auditioning, and hiring a new Conductor (Tod Trimble - he is going to take us far!!) and then it was time for our Spring Concert - and whew! So, Dear Jon helped me get a new camera - "just like" the old one, but with up-grades. It is going to take a while before I figure it out.... the whole back is a touch screen - so about every other picture, I  inadvertently change settings.... I also recently acquired a lovely pair of GREEN Shoes  and a Kindle (note the extraordinarily beautiful green embossed leather cover!) that I just had to show off. Naturally, the shoes required a new pair of socks, and Spring Spirals came to mind.... For Gluten-free people, Injera is a great substitute for wrap breads that I us

Tax Day! 2010!! Enjoy this day - we may never have it this "good" again!! 47 % of Americans will pay NO INCOME TAX at all on their 2009 earnings! Tax-Freedom Day : US citizens only had to work until April 9th (99th day of the year, this year) 2010 to pay their "portion" of Income taxes for the year. After this date, everything you earn, you keep :-) This is one day later than last year, but more than 2 WEEKS EARLIER than 2007, when Mr.  G.W. Bush was fearlessly in charge.  Here in Missoula, some of our neighbors are gathering in front of the federal building lying about their tax burden. What do you think they are really angry about? (I have a few theories myself!) Here's a sign my dear Jon made for us to wave back at them:

Where have I been? Chairing the Vintage on Broadway committee -  putting on the huge fundraiser for the Missoula Community Chorus! Successful this year- sold more tickets, had higher caliber Auction Items, food included an exquisite spam & olive spread on brown bread (our theme was 1940-1950 Golden Age of Broadway!), and this year's musical entertainment was polished and well-received! WHEW!! We raised over $12,000 for the chorus - and then I went to bed for a few days :-) Meanwhile, back in the spiritual realm,  TeaParty Jesus  has been giving people parables and questions to think about - here's just one example.......

Spring has arrived... and with it the miracle of marshmallow Peeps note: SHOCKING PICTURES!! NUDITY ADVISORY!! DON'T LOOK IF YOU ARE A PEEP PRUDE!!! Naked Peeps!! Here are some of this years' Peep Diorama Winners from across the U.S..... WE COME IN PEEPS PEEPTOWN Bakery and my favorite PEEP-O-SUCTION!

Noirin Ni rian - one of my favorite Irish singers.... and a Blessing from St. Brigid. Happy St. Patrick's Day ! The vision of St. Brigid was a heavenly community in which all created beings were joined together in joy. This is a poem attributed to St. Brigid giving voice to this hope: I'd like to give a lake of beer to God. I'd love the Heavenly Host to be tippling there For all eternity. I'd love the men of Heaven to live with me, To dance and sing. If they wanted, I'd put at their disposal Vats of suffering. White cups of love I'd give them, With a heart and a half; Sweet pitchers of mercy I'd offer To every man. I'd make Heaven a cheerful spot, Because the happy heart is true. I'd make the men contented for their own sake I'd like Jesus to love me too. I'd like the people of heaven to gather From all the parishes around, I'd give a special welcome to the women, The three Marys of great renown. I'd s

that was sheared and combed and spun into the fine wool that made up the sweater that Jon wears :-) And here's a little lamb - the first of this year's flock! at our friend's Daniel and Karen's ranch in the Mission Mountains. A great story about renewal and spring - the rite of lambing on the ranch can be found here... Daniel's Little Lambs Since it hopped off the needles, I bet he's worn it 3 days a week - and still gets compliments!

Here is the first of the four little wraps I promised for our Chinese friends.... this one is for Anne and is made of 100% American Buffalo fibers- a nice rich bison-brown color.Soft and lofty, this should keep the wind off her lovely neck! And here, the Portabello Mushroom kit from Stan and Bev, is beginning to bloom We got a couple nice sized ones to make an omelet with - and there are more coming.m! Lastly, Missoula's annual Hospice Ball was this week - Jonathan played with the Ed Norton Big Band  

A friend of ours invites a bunch of us over for music making, a bottle of wine, and dinner every so often - and we always have a grand time. But, I have never appreciated her hospitality more than last week, when she had us over and served us "Persian" Chicken and Rice! We walked in the house and dinner smelled.... enticing, a bit floral, and toasty. She set out the dish, and the browned chicken looked lovely nestled in a golden rice pilaf. But it was the first bite, and then the second, that sent me over the edge - I might have actually moaned at the table. Composing myself again, I casually asked (while pouring her another glass of wine) if I could peek at the recipe - she claims to have gotten it from a piano student's mother years ago. The next day, I picked up a fresh chicken and an orange, and I was cooking! It's actually the rice that is " Persian "... and you could make the rice as a stand-alone side dish. Here's how: cook 1 1/2 c. jasmine

This greeted Jonathan on the morning of his birthday... a luscious chocolate cake (re-make of a family recipe) and an almost-there-just-a-few-more-rows-honey sweater...... The sweater was finished three days later, as was the cake! Jonathan's Super Chocolaty, No Crumb Left Behind, Gluten-Free, Very Good Birthday Cake (yes, we were still eating off the Christmas plates.... they finally got put away for the year after finishing the sweater - I've got priorities, after all!) The original version of this cake featured rich milk chocolate flavors, a moist buttermilk crumb, and has been the "Rose Family" birthday cake since Jonathan and Louise's childhood. This year, I made a Gluten free cake, and incorporated super dark chocolate for a "mature" guy's birthday cake! Sift together - or dump in a large bowl and "fluff" with a fork! - the following: 1 c. fine brown rice flour 1 c. almond flour 1/2 c. each: tapioca flour, potato flour 1 tsp. xan

OK, Here we go! Let's see if I can finish 2 (out of the 4 promised!) Chinese New Years gifts between the Opening ceremonies and when the flame is extinguished! I have purchased (at dear price!) a skein of American Buffalo Yarn - fingering weight, 2 ply - as soft as a cloud! First 2 shawls are for Annie and Rosita.....After that, I promised both Cassie and Anne as well. When I showed a variety of patterns to all 4 friends last night, they ALL chose the same pattern! I will have to figure out how to make this a interesting challenge as well- what can I do to the basic pattern to create something absolutely unique for each woman?! Stay posted!

Makes you wonder Who would be able to vote if we had literacy tests. .....about Tom Tancredo.....and his friends..... and who he thinks are his followers?! Former Congressman and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo told an audience on Thursday at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville that "people who could not even spell the word 'vote', or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House." "His name," Tancredo said, "is Barack Hussein Obama." Tancredo delivered the opening keynote speech at the convention where several hundred Tea Party conservatives have gathered. Makes you proud to be an American, don’t it? Of course, the thing they’re ignoring is that Barack Obama, and his wife, could have passed any literacy test invented by the good ole boys who spell those signs.

A trip to China always means I get to find new yarn shops - thanks to Ravelry.com's China Knitters forum, I have found more than a few!! Here I am in front of Cheer Wool ( see their English web site here ) in Hong Kong. Following the directions I had in hand, we found a very tall (20+ stories) building shrouded in blue plastic and bamboo scaffolding. Thinking that we must be mis-reading the street numbers, we walked around the block again a few times, and finally asked in another shop if they knew where the yarn shop was. It was, of course, about 2 blocks up on the opposite side of the street... always an adventure! I found some Australian cashmere and purchased some children's needles and scissors for Nan. Alas, at age 3, Nan was more interested in the scissors than the yarn. Oh well, there is always next trip to indoctrinate her! While Nan played "cooking" with her scissors, I finished up 3 washcloths to leave with our friends ....

Christmas pajama pictures are here: It's been toooo long since I up-dated the blog! Sorry for that - after our Thanksgiving trip to the Oregon coast, we had Stella & Marcus & Iris (the grand-pug) visit for early Christmas, then we went to my mom, Bev, and then Jon's Mom, Cindy's for "Christmas", then we went back to Portland and the beach for New Year's, and as soon as we got back home, we got on the plane and trekked to China for 2 weeks for our annual factory visits. Whew!!! It's a miracle I even remember that I have a blog! Christmas 2009 took some planning.... Here is what several people on our list got! Big picnic Baskets full (10+ jars in each basket) of home-preserved sunshine and love. Jon used our Hot Foil embossing machines and brown paper circles to create the labels, then he proceeded to create a recipe booklet - using pictures and recipes from Robbin's 2009 blog - that called for the basket ingredients. He published the booklet via