Let's try this

The kids are making Thanksgiving dinner for the first time this year. I think we'd be here anyway, even if the family hadn't disintegrated as a unit; nearing 30 it's time. Wei and I had cooked Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter at least half a dozen times by the time we were 30.

So I am passing on to them two of our traditional (traditional for us, anyway) recipes.

Apple-raising stuffing
Makes 10 cups

This can be made the day before eating.

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup butter
1 quart peeled, chopped apples
1 cup chopped celery
2 quarts toasted croutons*
1/2 cup golden raisins (NOT the dark ones)
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 egg
1/4 cup apple cider
1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning or herbes de Provence
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a Dutch oven (borrow one from your mom), saute onion in butter over medium heat until transparent (about 5 minutes). Stir in apples and celery, simmer uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally, again about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients, beating egg lightly before adding.

Set aside 4 cups to stuff the bird. The day before, or if you have a second oven, for the remainder, leave in the Dutch oven. Lightly brown two turkey drumsticks over high heat on the stovetop (don't cook through, just leave til they sizzle). Place these on top of the stuffing, cover and roast at 350 for an hour or until the drumsticks are cooked through. To reheat: take out of the fridge about an hour before reheating; place in a warm (300F) oven for 20 minutes after you take the turkey out.

*Easiest: buy the bag of plain croutons, (don't get the herbed ones). To make your own, cube bread (most recipes say French bread or baguette, but these aren't dense enough. Use a good polish whole grain loaf or other heavy white or whole grain bread). Spread on a rimmed cookie sheet (so they don't slide off) and put them in a warm oven, about 250F, for an hour, or until they are completely dry and crunchy.

Harvest Cider
8 servings (we usually double this)

2 cups water
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Zest from one orange
3 sticks cinnamon
2 teaspoons whole clove
1 teaspoon whole allspice (or 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 quarts apple cider
juice of 2-3 oranges
juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat first eight ingredients (through nutmeg) in a 2 quart saucepan. Once it boils, turn heat to a simmer; simmer covered for 20 minutes. Pour through strainer lined with cheesecloth. Transfer liquid to a large pot, add remaining liquids and heat until hot.

Christmas dinner

I make menu cards every year for our Christmas dinners, using seasonal photos from the garden. Here are the ones from the past few years.

2008

2009

2011

 ( Don't know where 2010 disappeared to!)

Valentine's Day

My husband and I have never really "done" Valentine's Day. Sometimes he brings flowers, and occasionally we've gone out for dinner. When I was a working artist I made him a little sculpture or paper piece for Valentine's Day, but I have no idea if he still has them. I don't mind. Neither of us is particularly romantic, although he can be rather sentimental sometimes. And by February 14 we're just on holiday overload because of family circumstances-- Christmas, the New Year, then our anniversary, then my birthday, then Chinese New Year, then HIS birthday, then Valentine's Day, all separated by no more than 10 days at a time. I'm done. But in the spirit of don't buy anything, I felt like I had to create something this year, so I made these chocolate cookies. (He brought the Junior Mints, my favorite candy.) Not that he really eats chocolate all that much. Oh, well. Happy Valentine's Day anyhow, sweetheart (our 36th, which I suppose is the best Valentine's Day gift of all).  

EDIT: two years to the day after I wrote this, he left me for another woman. I just thought it was important to note that. I didn't have a clue.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cookies 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 3/4 cup honey 1 egg 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, plumped Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Cream butter and honey. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in cranberries. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until set – do not overbake. They should still look kind of moist on top when you take them out. They will set as they cool. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen

Solstice

For Midsummer Day, I started hunting around for plants and rituals associated with the solstice, and found a lot of information about chamomile, an herb which I’ve been looking into lately anyway (since it appears I will have a LOT).

From herbalremedies.com “Chamomile is one of the ‘Nine Sacred Herbs’ of the Lacnunga, an ancient Anglo-Saxon manuscript. The strong association Chamomile has with the Sun is an underlying indication of its modern usage. Through incense or ritual drink it is used to assist a priest’s call to the Sun God (those working with any of the solar deities). Some traditions have used Chamomile at Midsummer to give honor to the Father of Nature.

My herbalist friend "Om" says,

We use chamomile tea in the chalice and horn cup at our Summer Solstice rituals, especially at the height of the day when it is families with lots of kids. It also brews into a delightful wine. I have also added it to the vinaigrette to go on a feast salad, and put it in fire fruit salad (a mix of citrus fruits that are red, yellow and orange, along with cinnamon and cumin as the main spices). The leaves work well in incense this time of year, and as part of the bundle of herbs used for sweeping and/or asperging.

I harvested the flowers from one of my volunteers and hope to be able to harvest enough to have tea all the way through the winter this year. (Right now I have about 1 cup of dried flowers, with several months of bloom left to go, and 14 plants.)

In which we welcome the god and the goddess

Grow Project April post

Having been extremely kind to the Midwest all year, the goddess continues her gentle journey into the spring with a string of 80F/26C days. The goddess’ consort, in the form of a large robin again, watched me work, mostly brute labor building beds, setting paths and amending soil. I gave the goddess a pincushion plant for an offering this year.
The weather rarely works out so perfectly for planting, or coincides so neatly with my schedule. Friday a hot sunny day for all the grunt work and some early transplanting. Saturday a gentle cool rain (still in the 50s). Supposed to be dry and warm (60s-70s/10-15) again next two days, plus, the moon phase is exactly right for putting in my early spring root vegetables. I’ll savor it, because this confluence of need and ability is so rare.
My offering to the goddess yesterday was apparently appreciated.

Among the many gardening tasks for the weekend was planting out the indoor starts of the "Spitfire" Nasturtium for the GROW project. Five seedlings went into the ground by the cyclone fence, behind the birdbath, strawberries, and columbine. This should give me color there when the columbine fades, and incidentally help draw the aphids away from the eggplants going in a little ways down the fence. I'll be cloching these early set-outs under pop-bottle cloches to protect them from the cold, since I put them out a little early (I'm not having great luck with the indoor starts; the cold can't possibly be any worse for them than my incompetence.)
I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds. I planted 6 seeds in Ferry-Morse organic seed starting medium on March 8, and got 5 seedlings. There are also 9 seeds planted in a wintersown container, in plain soil mixed with perlite. These just poked their heads out of the dirt today.
And, because it's Easter, and I hate to put up a post without a recipe:
Greek Easter Twists
(Koulourakia)

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk (or a little more if needed)
3-4 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Cream sugar, butter and vanilla thoroughly. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add milk and flour alternatiely, beating vigorously until well blended. I like using cake flour rather than all-purpose flour for these cookies; it makes a nicer texture when done. Use your judgment about the last cup of flour to make sure the dough is not too dry. You may need to work the dough with your hands at the end as it will be quite dense and springy. (If you have a food processor, these mix really well in a food processor.)

Break the dough off in small portions, rolling it on a cutting board until you have a roll about the width of your finger and 6-8" long. Form into traditional shape- a circle with the ends pressed together, or a twisted "braid." Beat an egg and coat each cookie (I use my fingers rather than a pastry brush). Bake them plain, or sprinkle with sesame seeds first.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400F/200C for 20 minutes, turning once to ensure even cooking. Makes about 28 cookies.