Pie Crust Scares Me

So, this happened today.

My first ever, completely made from scratch, lemon meringue pie.

I've decided my challenge this year is going to be to master pastry. I'm happy making bread, cake, cookies, etc., but I'm a coward when it comes to pastry. I've made a few simple tarts in the past, but mostly, the few times I've made pies, I've used store-bought crust. I know, I'm ashamed. So I've decided that this year I'm going to try various kinds of pastry, and keep making them until I'm satisfied I've got it down.

I'm at the farm for a couple of weeks and was going to make lemon curd with the Meyer lemons again, but then I thought I'd make a start on the Great Pastry Experiment while I'm here, so found this recipe for lemon meringue at Epicurious and made their basic shortcrust. Of course, the proof is in the eating, but Mom made little pear dumpling things with the scraps of pastry and they were pretty good, so I'm fairly sure the crust part of the pie is OK. I licked the spatula after I poured the filling into the crust and it tasted great, and the meringue looks gorgeous, so I'm confident it will be edible. Dad's been away for a couple of days for medical treatment and it's his favourite pie, so it should be a nice surprise for him when he gets home this afternoon.

On my list of other pastry to try is (in order of ascending scariness):

Choux - for cream puffs, profiteroles, and eclairs.
Flaky - for sausage rolls, pasties, and turnovers.
Puff - for palmiers, pot pies, and croissants.
Filo - for baklava, strudel, and hors d'oeuvres.

I'm hoping that, by the end of the year, I can confidently whip up a pie from scratch at any given moment.

Wendy

So, 2017

In 2017 I didn't make New Year's resolutions. Instead, I made of list of things I'd wanted to do in the year, and I purposely made it challenging. Not to make myself feel bad when I didn't "accomplish" everything, but to make me more intentional for the year.

Unfortunately, some health issues basically kicked my butt in 2017, so there were things I wanted to do that I just couldn't, but I AM NOT beating myself up about it.

I'm not going to list the things I didn't get done, but I am going to glory in the things I DID!

1. Make and attend all necessary medical and dental appointments.

Yep.

2. Do one thing I'm scared of.

I went to my first ever protest march.

3. Put a new raised bed in the garden.

I did!

4. Finish off one of my many half-done projects.

I painted and put back together a beautiful cast iron floor lamp that had been in pieces in the garage for years.

5. Make 12 favorite and 12 new recipes.

This one was fun.

Favorites

Most of these I made multiple times during the year, except the hot cross buns, which obviously I made a Easter; the pavlova, for a dinner party; and the mashed potato, which was for Christmas.

1.     Hot Cross Buns – The Pioneer Woman’s recipe. I halved the amount of currants and added the zest of one lemon and one orange (in lieu of the candied peel they have in them in England).

2.     Best Cinnamon Rolls – these no-knead rolls are the BEST! I did change the cream cheese frosting for a powdered sugar/cream/vanilla icing so David could eat them.

3.     Banana Bread – from my ever-handy Better Homes and Gardens recipe book (best wedding present ever).

4.     Peach Crumble - ditto

5.     Kombucha – My favorite flavoring for the second ferment has turned out to be Concord grape juice.

6.     Morning muffins – Also from BH&G

7.     Cornbread – and this.

8.     No-knead Bread – the famous recipe from The New York Times

9.     Pavlova with Lime Curd & Raspberries – this was a combination from a couple of different recipes and was amazing. I swirled the lime curd with whipped cream, topped with raspberries and sprinkled with chopped pistachios. Best pavlova ever.

10.  Peach Jam – one batch with yellow peaches, and one with white.

11.  Chili – basically throw tinned tomatoes, tinned beans, tomato paste, garlic, chili flakes, cumin, and balsamic vinegar in a pot and let it simmer for as long as possible.

12.  Mashed potatoes – this has been a bugbear for me, but I finally got it right this year. Thank you, Kitchen Conundrums.

New Recipes

Some of these were more successful than others, but we enjoyed all of them.

1.     Deconstructed Eton Mess – I didn’t really use a recipe for this. I made bite sized meringues and served it with a bowl of sliced and sugared strawberries and a choice of Chantilly Cream or Cashew Cream (see below).

2.     Cashew Cream – I made this from the recipe book we got from the Take 10 program we did in California a few years ago.

3.     Carob Brownies – I used this recipe and just used regular flour and added peanuts. They were gorgeous, and if I hadn’t known they were carob I probably wouldn’t have guessed.

4.     Curried Potatoes & Chickpeas

5.     Apple Butter – two batches, one with some gifted Red Delicious, which I’m not fond of  eating fresh (too mealy), and the other with Honey Crisp, which are gorgeous. I did it in the slow cooker with apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, whole cinnamon and cloves, and freshly grated nutmeg. I’m really pleased with how both batches turned out.

6.     Pickled Beets & Eggs – this was really fun and turned the eggs a lovely shade of magenta.

7.     Cherry Compote – I bought some cherries that looked gorgeous but tasted really disappointing. I didn’t want to waste them so I found this recipe and it turned out amazing. I ate it on everything.

8.     Refrigerator Pickles – from my home-grown cucumbers.

9.     Peach Ice Cream – It was OK, but I folded in too much fresh peach chunks at the end and it froze a bit grainy. Next time I’ll just use puree.

10.  Gluten free peach crisp – not bad but I used a rice flour topping which didn’t stay very crisp. I’ll have to work on this one again.

11.  Blood orange sorbet – absolutely bloody gorgeous.

12.  Carob cake with Swiss Buttercream – my crowning achievement in 2017. I made it for our Boxing Day dinner and it turned out perfect. And no one knew it wasn’t chocolate until they were halfway through. The red walnuts on top are from my parents' farm.  Tune in next time for This Year's Goals. Wendy

Lemon Curd (More Appetizing Than it Sounds)

When I first moved to England there were a number of new tastes I had the pleasure (or not) of discovering. Salt and vinegar flavoured crisps (yes!), Marmite (no!), lemon barley water (yes), Ribena (not so much), tea (took me a while, but yes!), Christmas pudding (with all the will in the world, no).

Lemon curd I loved at first bite,even the store-bought variety, but it wasn't until a friend gave me a small pot of homemade that I really came to appreciate its rich, silky, tangy lusciousness. A few years ago, on a visit to my parents, I took the opportunity to pick a handful of lemons from one of their trees and attempt a batch of my own. It's surprisingly easy, if somewhat time-consuming, and you do have to pay attention. I made another batch while we were there at Christmas and then another last week when we had company to dinner. I'm kind of addicted now.

There are various ways you can choose to make it: directly in a pan, or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water; with yolks only or with a combination of yolks and whites. Liking a culinary challenge (and feeling, obscurely, that taking shortcuts in cooking is somehow "cheating") and also the richest taste, I've only made the yolk-only, water-bath way. Eventually I'll try one of the other methods and see if it really makes any difference.

The recipe I've been using is this one from Chowhound. Mom and Dad have a couple of Meyer lemon trees so that's what I used at Christmas and I loved it so much I searched out Meyers to make it at home as well. I think some people like the sharper taste of regular lemons in curd, but to me the fragrance of Meyer lemons is an ecstatic experience, so I adore the curd it makes.

I am very bad at remembering to take pictures of food so this picture is not mine - I got it from The Galley Gourmet website - it just looks so gorgeous, I couldn't resist it. I'll try and remember to take pictures next time I make it!

Wendy

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2013

If you live anywhere in Maryland, Virginia or Southern Pennsylvania and love all things wool-related, you have to go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival the first weekend of May. I got up at an ungodly hour on Sunday, hoping to make an early start in order to get to the beginning of the "Sheep to Shawl" competition (which starts at 8.00 am for crying out loud!) but sadly didn't get out of the house until after 9.00. The morning started out cool and grey but the day turned beautiful - warm (but not too hot) and beautifully sunny. I understand that some years it's cold and rainy and others it's broiling, (last year was close and sticky) but this year was perfect. I did get there earlier than I did last year so although still had to park in a paddock, it wasn't the north forty.

Fortunately the Sheep to Shawl contestants were hard at it when I got there so I watched them for a while. They start by shearing a sheep (which someday I'll manage to be there in time for) and then part of the team prepares the fleece, passes it to the spinners who then pass it to the weaver to turn into the requisite shawl. They come to the competition with the warp (the long threads through which the spun wool is woven) already on the loom and then weave in the wool as it's spun.  There were four teams, all with different themes: one was "Gone Fishing", one "Garden Party" one all wore blue pjs with sheep on them, and one was dressed in Civil War garb. By the time I came back around to that section of the fair again they were done so I didn't get to see the finished articles but I understand that the Garden Party group won,

 with the Civil War ladies coming in second.

I'd had a look at the list of vendors before I went so I headed straight to the main pavilion where The Verdant Gryphon (previously the Sanquine Gryphon), whose website I've been stalking for some time, and Miss Babs (whose stall is notoriously a madhouse at festivals) were located.

I found the Gryphon first and met the lovely and very helpful Jamie (wearing the Verdant Gryphon's latest pattern, "Balin", a gorgeous knitted coat inspired by "The Hobbit").

I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decide firstly, whether I should buy two (fairly expensive) skeins at what was, after all, the first vendor I'd visited so far, and once I'd convinced myself I should, which yarns to buy and, even worse, what colours! Finally, after much picking up, fondling, and putting down, I bought a skein of Bugga! in this year's "Experimental Love Child" colourway and Mithril laceweight in the "A Fairy, Kersti & A View of a Meadow" colourway. I'm pretty sure I'll make myself a pair of socks from the Bugga! but will have to decide what to do with the Mithril. Of course that's part of the fun of new yarn.

I then found the Miss Babs stall nearby, which was crowded but, according to a couple of people who'd been there on Saturday as well, not nearly as crazy-making as it had been the previous day. At least I could get INTO the stall. After much more yarn-fondling I found a gorgeous sock yarn called Tarte in tonal reds to make yet more red socks for my Beloved One. Once I'd finished with those two Must-Visits, I just enjoyed browsing the rest of the vendors. Everything sheep or wool related is sold at this event, from the sheep themselves, to tools for caring for them; from fleeces to spun yarn to finished products, and every tool you'd need to produce your finished product.

So there was a vendor who sold shepherd's crooks, others that sold spinning wheels,

uncountable booths offering fibre and yarn, and a few selling finished sweaters, hats or afghans.

There are also the sheep themed vendors

and a few frankly nothing-to-do-with-sheep-but-very-artsy vendors.

 

And there is of course, the food. In addition to the standard fair/festival food, there was sheep's milk products and (whisper) a lot of lamb. Look away now if you are squeamish and/or vegetarian.

When I had exhausted (read, exceeded) my day's budget for wooly goodness I bought myself a pit lamb sandwich and locally made rootbeer and sat in the shade to watch the end of the sheep judging. I particularly loved these two young ones looking earnest while the judges assessed their sheep.

 I went to the festival with a plan; a plan which involved sock yarn. Last year (about which more later) it was all about the spinning fibre, but this year I decided that as much as I love knitting socks, I haven't actually made many over the last year. So in the end, apart from the skein of Mithril, I got the Bugga!, the Miss Babs, a skein of Fiber Optic Yarns' Foot Notes in "Garnet", Blue Ridge Yarn's Footlights in "Mossy Hollow",  four skeins of a natural coloured wool/nylon sock yarn so I can experiment with dyeing this summer,  and...four tomato plants. I know, not exactly sheep or wool related, but they were there and I'd been wanting to buy some heirloom plants, so I got the "Mortgage Lifter" variety (4/$6). Apparently they produce prolifically - and I couldn't resist the name.

Now that I've spent all that money let's hope I do better about using it than last year's loot - twelve lots of spinning fibre I haven't touched since.

I'll try to dig out last year's fibre and take pictures of it, and this year's yarn, for the next post.

The Beach, the Train, and the Castle

We did go down to the beach on Wednesday. Fortunately there were folding chairs and a beach umbrella at the house so we trekked down the hill to the less populated end of the beach.

The day was hot and sunny and the water was bottle green, clearer than I've ever seen it and cold!

It was also incredibly flat - there was no chop and hardly any swell (and I think most of that was caused by the motor boats whizzing back and forth just outside the swimming area). I could just float on my back and bob gently, looking up at the amazingly blue sky. All in all a lovely afternoon.



That night Evie came down on the train after work and we picked her up at Wareham station.

Thursday was the day we had all been looking forward to. Every time we go to Swanage we take the steam train to Corfe Castle.

Corfe is a bit like a fairytale village - old stone houses, charming little train station, and atmospheric ruins. It's one of my favourite places in Britain.

There were several exhibitors at the castle. The large rectangle on the left had a gentleman in Victorian dress talking about travel in the 19th century, a table with children making mosaics and a woman showing spectators how to spin and weave. At the small yellow tent on the left a man was making knives, spoons and jewelry on a tiny bronze age forge, while on the right a woman sold jewelry inspired by bronze age archaeological finds and a man sold handmade pottery. I bought a bronze necklace and a pottery mug.

We have been at the castle when it's foggy, raining and windy enough to blow us off the top, but this was perfect.

We had another cream tea while we were in Corfe

which was only slightly marred by the presence of fruit scones rather than plain.

I even managed to get David and Evie to be silly for me (Evie getting into the spirit of it and David very reluctantly).

We were very sad to pack up and leave on Friday. We had the best week there ever.

We did stop at Worth Matravers for one more cream tea before we left Dorset though.

Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside

We are halfway through the first week of our 3-week holiday in England and after all the dire predictions, and the news that it had been the wettest summer on record, we've had four of the most beautiful days I can remember in England, let alone at the seaside. For the first week we are staying at Swanage in Dorset, our traditional summer holiday spot. We first came the summer of 1991 when Evie was a baby and visited almost every year until 2003, although we almost always came in the autumn or spring when it's much cheaper.

Originally we were going to be sharing a house with David's brother Geoffrey and his family but they had to cancel their trip so we're rattling round in a rather bigger place than we are used to. It's up on the cliff overlooking the sea in one direction (there was a boat race on Saturday),



with a view to the beach and town in another.



Swanage has a very nice beach, with lovely sand (especially by British standards) but as you can see, it's very crowded this time of year, particularly down at the town end. The house we are renting is near the end of the line of houses up on the hill leading toward Ballard Down.

A Punch and Judy show is a must at the seaside in Britain.

As are bathing huts. One of these years we'll have to rent one of these while we are here.

Our first night we had fish & chips down by the water in town.

And the next day our first cream tea of the summer. For those unfortunate enough to have never had a cream tea, this involves a pot of tea (or coffee), scones, jam and clotted cream. As cream teas go this one was adequate. For a really excellent cream tea you need generous helpings of jam (usually strawberry) and cream and fresh, fluffy but solid scones. The serving of cream was generous, the jam less so, and the scones a little too crumbly and not as fresh as they could have been. Nevertheless as it was the first we've had in some time we enjoyed it very much.


Today we took a boat around Ballard Down to see the Pinnacle and Old Harry's rocks. Although we've been coming here for years for some reason we'd never done the boat rides. It was really interesting to see the bay from the water, and then to see the cliffs from the bottom. The down is chalk and originally (thousands/millions of years ago) connected with the Isle of Wight which, on a very clear day, you can see from here.



The rock on the far right is Old Harry, apparently named after a local pirate.

When we were finished we were feeling the need for another cream tea so we took advice, drove inland to Worth Matravers, and found this--

where we had this...

Out here...

looking at this...


Nice, huh?

Tomorrow we will probably brave the sea down at this end of the beach, where it's not so crowded. Although the weather's gorgeous and around 25C (77F) the water's not going to be warm. But it would be a little ridiculous to come to the seaside and not take at least a little dip, and I have a new bathing costume!

What to do with all that zucchini

I have six zucchini/courgette plants and two of them are presenting me with the cutest, tenderest squashes I've ever eaten.  Based on the number of blossoms on the other four, I'm going to be more than replete with squash this summer.  I'm trying to catch them when they are little but one sucker hid under the leaves and when I found it this morning it was rehearsing for a policeman's truncheon.  There was only one thing to do...make chocolate cake.

I've always been a little skeptical about cooking vegetables in desserts - even carrot cake is a little dodgy in my view, but I've been assured that you can't taste the zucchini in cake.  So I did a search and came up with this rather luscious sounding recipe on the aptly named Zucchini & Chocolate website.  Since allergy boy and vegan girl are away from home I thought I'd whip up a chocolate cake using real butter, eggs, cocoa and dark chocolate and see if it's enough to hide the squash.

The result - absolutely frickin' gorgeous.  Rich, moist, chocolaty and not a trace of zucchini to be found - it's just melted into the cake.  I made a powdered sugar glaze to top it with but it's kind of gilding the lily.  It doesn't need anything else.

[Sorry no pictures but Evie has my camera in DC - maybe next time]

Roasted Autumn Vegetables

When the nights start getting colder this is one of my favourite recipes for dinner - it's really easy and you can use whichever vegetables you like or have on hand.  Bear in mind that it can take a long time to cook so leave plenty of time to prepare the vegetables and then roast them.

I used:
salad potatoes, unpeeled (the largest cut in half)
sweet potatoes
parsnips
carrots
beets
leeks
(cut all these into large bite sized pieces)
several whole cloves of garlic
fresh sage, rosemary & thyme
salt

Drizzle olive oil and stir till veges are well coated and then add balsamic vinegar and stir.

Line a roasting pan with foil (to make cleaning up easier) and drizzle a little more olive oil in to coat the bottom, then just dump in the vegetables.  Ideally you should have a pan big enough that you will have a single layer but my pan is on the small size so I had 2-3 layers, which increases the cooking time.  Cover with foil for at least the first half of cooking (esp if more than a single layer of veges) and cook till tender.  Then take the foil off to let the vegetables brown a little.  I cooked mine for 1 1/2 hours on 450F and a further 20 mins on 400.

You could probably cut the time down by cooking it on a higher temperature to soften the veges but make sure you turn it down a bit when you take the foil off.  Personally I like them slow cooked so I make sure I have plenty of time - Sunday nights are perfect.