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

It was the day AFTER Thanksgiving, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring..... we were still recovering from the tryptophan crash of the day before! Whatever were we to do with all that heirloom turkey that Besty and Jamie brought from Santa Fe? I had actually thought ahead of time and prepared a super concentrated Mole Paste at home before we all traveled to our extended family meet up on the Oregon coast in Manzanita. Here's how I did it: FIRST I contacted my Father-in-law, the Spanish professor who is also an amazing and intrepid cook. I hoped he had "the secret recipe to a great Mole sauce"...indeed, he immediately loaned me two huge volumes on Mexican and Oaxacan cooking, both of which included several individual Mole recipes. One even had all sorts of historical fact and fable about this Sauce of Fame. (Hint: Both of these books are now on my "wish list" for Christmas!) As I read through the recipes - many of which took days to prepare,...

In this busy life, a moment of reflection with Sarah McLachlan and St. Francis of Assisi..... We have been very busy (typically, October/November are our biggest months of the year!)Here's Jon taping up boxes yesterday - and then there's Sean (our UPS Angel!) flexing his muscles to begin the pickup! Besides "work" I have added quite a bit more to the canning pantry, including several pints of our home-fermented Sauerkraut, and Wool-Wash. Well, the wool-wash isn't for eating.... but it will help get those stains out of Jon's sweater after he's eaten the sauerkraut... I got the "recipe" for Wool-Wash from an Australian friend... 4 cups boiling water 4 cups pure SOAP flakes (not "detergent! - if you can't find it, just grate a bar or 2 of pure castile soap) Pour the hot water over the flakes, and beat with a whisk or mixer, until well blended. It gets "foamy - that's alright! When well incorporated, add ...

Please follow this link to support the Weiner Amendment extending MEDICARE for ALL to the Health care Bill in front of Congress. The link take you to a fax you can send from your computer- and gives you phone numbers for your representatives as well as the major players, and the White House. Let your will be known! Here's the scoop: Breaking news from PNHP (Physicians for National Health Plan). The Weiner amendment 'could' come to a floor vote on Friday or Saturday with maybe a 20 minute debate allowed. Your calls and faxes were instrumental in making this happen. Now is the time to push hard on your congressperson to vote for the Weiner amendment. Even if it fails, it is very important to show that it has support. If the entire health reform bill fails, as it very well may, then Medicare For All has a real shot at enactment when Congress realizes it MUST address health care. Here's the link to the FAX YOUR REPRESENTATIVE page. Here's the link where yo...

My birthday is Hallowe'en, and yes, the apostrophe indicates that you know how to properly spell the word! ("e'en" is a contraction for "evening") As a child it was much akin to a Christmas birthday -but it's gotten much more fun the older I get. This year, my friend, Joni happened to be visiting from Scotland where she's lived with her husband for many years. And she brought me a spurtle!!! I was soooo excited :-) The spurtle is that lovely turned piece of wood in the pic above - and it's been used since the 15th century to stir.... porridge! The Golden Spurtle Porridge Making Championship competition is held in Carrbridge Scotland every year. I quickly chopped and steamed up some of the delicious apples Stan and Bev brought down, ran them through the chinois, and added some spices for Apple Butter making... The spurtle lived up to it's reputation - the rounded end fitting evenly against the ceramic sides of the pot - not one lump was left ...

" Be not simply good, be good for something ." -Thoreau Contact your congress people and representatives! Email, web sites info, and ground address for US Senators/Representatives can all be found here . And here is NY Congressman Anthony Weiner's site, Countdown to HealthCare, where you can sign petitions, get up-to-the-minute informatin on what and how things are moving through congress. I am tempted to move to NY state, just to claim Weiner as my rep! Don't you wonder how a Democratic President, elected on a platform of reform, with over whelming Democrat majorities in the House and the Senate can take a hugely popular social program and turn it into a corporate give away? This is about as good for us as Medicare part D (which essentially gave billions of dollars to the pharmaceutical companies!) That's just what's happening with the "HealthCare for America" act recently introduced by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. the way it reads, right out of ...

From our little garden this year, a bounty of food! Stan's apples trees contributed quite a bit of fruit for us as well (it was low yield year for the pear tree - so we only got a few. I still have jars of Pear Sauce, Pear Butter, and several litres of "Poplar Pear" wine from last year!) Completed : Tomato sauce, 6 pts Diced tomatoes, 7 pts Enchilada sauce, 4 pts Ketchup, 6 - 1/2 pts Bar-b-q sauce, 6 - 1/2 pts Garlic Dills, 6 qts Icicle pickles, 8 pts Cardamon Applesauce, 6 pts Apple Pie filling, 5 qts + 1 pt Cranberry Sauce w/Port 6 - 13 oz. Apple Cranberry Brandied Mince filling 6 pts Cranberry Pear Chutney 4 pts Plum Walnut conserve 4 pts Honeyed jalapenos, 6 - 1/2 pts Hot Thai Vinegared peppers, 1 pt Grape jelly 6 - 1/2 pts Ginger Marmalade 9 1/2 pts Sunrise Marmalade 13 1/2 pts Bitter Marmalade 8 1/2 pts Gingery Apple Butter 9 1/2 pts Sauerkraut 9 pts (11/15/09) Brown Sugar Applesauce 10 pts (11/15/09) Yet to Can: Worcestershire...

Well, it's not the end of my quest, but here is what I've come up with - it is a tasty, yeasty, and scented with warm grainy-goodness. (remember the last loaf that I said smelled a bit "bean-y? By the 2nd day - the beans had won and the loaf was out!) I know it's a long list of ingredients (especially when "Bread" used to mean only 3! flour, water, yeast) And I used my bread machine again, but this is my own creation - and it's good enough to make the weekly kitchen schedule! Robbin's Better Bread -GF recipe Melt 1/4 c. butter Off the flame, whisk in 1 3/4 c. whole grain rice milk, then whisk in 3 whole eggs. Place these wet ingredients in the bread machine. Mix the following thoroughly with fork or whisk: 3c. Gifts of Nature GF Baking mix (there are no bean flours in this mix !) 1/2 c. sorghum flour 1/4 c. teff (I used it whole-grain , not flour. It's smaller than poppy seeds, but I think this is what smells so good!) 1/4 c. quinoa flakes...