Blogging from the Dentist's Office

Wow, two blogs so close together! I haven't done that in a while. Okay, so Annalee had an impacted wisdom tooth that had a pretty bad infection and the dentist wanted it out fast—like within 24 hours fast—before the infection hit her bloodstream. It was scheduled for 2:00 p.m., but the oral surgeon called at 9:00 a.m. asking how fast we could get there since they had a cancellation. Annalee and I had just finished breakfast, but we were still in our jammies. She jumped into the shower, and I ran around gathering things to do while sitting in the lobby waiting. I took crocheting, a book, my laptop, a magazine, a sudoku, and some income tax stuff to sort through. I was set. It was a 45-minute drive in the rain, which made it seem longer, but we made it there by 10:15. I spent the first ten or fifteen minutes looking through the gossip magazines, but decided to finally finish reading Chasing Chiles, Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail instead. Once I finished, I went on to the next thing on my list: calling my mom and Rick's mom to see how they were. I thought this was a good opportunity. I managed to talk with my mom for about 5 minutes, but she was on her way to church for a meeting. Next, I called Rick to let him know what was up, but he was riding the exercycle, so the call was short. I did confirm that we had pastina and farina for Annalee to eat, though. Then I called Rick's mom. No sooner had she answered when the receptionist yelled, "no cell phones allowed in here, can't you read?" Oops. I missed the tiny sign by the window, and since I am new to cell phones, I didn't realize it was an issue. After profuse apologizing, I opened my laptop. With no internet reception, I stared at it for a bit and then saw an e-mail, already opened so no internet connection was needed, from Rick about the printing of his banjo book and a reference to a cookbook. Well, okay, then—I'll write a blog!

In preparation for the banjo workshop he will be leading at the end of the month, Rick began compiling information to make a small handout for the workshop attendees. Since I'm so nice (ha, I had no clue what I was in for!), I volunteered to help design and lay the pamphlet out. Only problem is, it turned into a 40-page book, and more work than either of us anticipated. I think the final product is pretty awesome, though. Okay, I'm prejudiced because most of the time I think Rick is pretty darn awesome. Of course, now that it's done, Rick has thought of a zillion more things he could add. Hmmm, maybe some day he'll write a much longer, more in-depth, book on the banjo. Although I teasingly tell folks that I ought to teach him how to use InDesign first, it was actually kind of fun to work with him, and I think we managed to do a good job together. Check it out: Ragged but Right: the Ungentle Art of Clawhammer Banjo.

With the arrival of his proof, though, Rick mentioned that I should post something more on the cookbook I designed for the Quaker meeting, Conscience Bay Monthly Meeting, that we attend. Conscience Bay had its fiftieth anniversary last May, and held a celebration open to the wider community, with music (us—the Homegrown String Band), craft booths, food, labyrinth walks, and talks on Quakerism. And, of course, the cookbook, Recipes from the Quaker Garden. Included is a no-knead spicy bread recipe by Rick, a red bean and rice recipe by Annalee, a few recipes by me, and pumpkin soup by Erica, not to mention many other recipes from Friends (Quakers). At the Christmas potluck at the meetinghouse, the pumpkin soup was a huge hit. Luckily, Erica brought a huge crockpot of it, because people were going back for seconds and thirds. The spicy bread recipe and the pumpkin soup make a great cold weather dinner. (Annalee's red beans and rice is pretty darn tasty, too!) And I just happened to have all the info on my laptop as I sat and sat and sat and waited.

See those hot pepper flakes? Spicy!

Rick's Spicy Sandwich Bread

For more complete directions on how to make this no-knead bread, please visit my June 25, 2011 post. Rick made slight variations in the ingredient amounts, and added the red and black peppers, but the rest of the process is the same. Remember, you need to start this the night before you intend to eat it!

3¼ cups unbleached white flour

¼ cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1½ teaspoons sea salt

¼ teaspoon instant yeast

1½ cups filtered (unchlorinated) water

(chlorine will inhibit fermentation)

Hard to photograph, but yummy!

Erica's Pumpkin Soup

30 oz. pumpkin puree

1 cup light cream

1 onion, minced

2 celery stalks, minced

½ carrot, minced

28 oz. chicken broth

1 tablespoon brown sugar

½ teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon cumin powder

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

½ lb. prosciutto, cut to ¼" dice

2 tablespoons butter

• Sauté onion, celery, carrot, and prosciutto in butter until soft.

• Add cumin, curry, and coriander. Stir for a minute a two, so vegetables absorb the flavor.

• Add pumpkin, chicken broth, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then lower & simmer for 15 minutes.

• Add cream. Simmer until warmed through.

Serves 4 

I hope you enjoy the bread and the pumpkin soup! As for Annalee . . . well, she came through the oral surgery like a trooper. She iced on and off every twenty minutes all day, took some Advil, and surprised everyone including herself. She was all set to be in pain and whimpering in bed, ringing a bell to summon us, and ready to write requests out. Instead, she's starving and bored and managing to chatter (or maybe mumble) up a storm.

Slow Cooking cookbook review

I have just discovered my new favorite cookbook!! Well, until I discover another since cookbooks are a bit of an addiction.

One of the first things Erica bought when she was getting ready to move into her own place was a crockpot. At the Christmas potluck at our (Quaker) meetinghouse someone looked at her Pumpkin Soup contribution and exclaimed "that is one serious crockpot." Her soup was the big hit of the get-together, but apparently the crockpot itself was a close second. Now, I never cooked in a crockpot so Erica didn't grow up with the tradition of eating meals made in one. Neither did Chris, as far as I know, but he had it in his head that having a crockpot slowly cooking food in the kitchen was homey and, if nothing else, he was super excited about creating a home with Erica. So she bought one. I had done a lot of reading and research on cooking in the solar oven when we bought one, interlibrary loaning cookbooks on the subject. After Rick bought me a Pomaireware clay pot for my birthday I added clay pot cooking to my list of essential reading. At both times, I also loaned out crockpot cooking cookbooks. After all, it's the same idea: Cooking one pot meals for a longer time at a lower temperature.

With Christmas coming my cookbook reading collided with my Christmas present buying. I was "wandering" around Amazon looking for ideas when I hit on Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss. The front cover looked soooo inviting. I was about to switch over to the library Web site and put it on hold when, instead, I placed it in my shopping cart. I'll buy it for Erica, I thought. About a week later I subjected Rick to a look-see at all the presents in my cart before I placed the order. He okayed everything except the cookbook, not being as excited about the enticing front cover photo nor the description as I was. Sheesh, how could you not get excited!? But I ignored him and ordered it anyway. 

The night the order arrived I took the cookbook up to bed so I could gaze longingly at all the delicious recipes and drool over the photos before I fell asleep. Rick was probably reading something heavy, like he always does at night (although right now he's reading Chasing Chiles: Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail, which looks really interesting and which I'll probably read next). I kept oohing and aahing over everything, probably interrupting his thoughts. Finally, he asked why don't I just keep the darn thing. But it was to be a present, so I sighed and put it away. I tested the chicken cacciatore recipe the next day, substituting my clay pot for the crockpot, and it was delicious. I then wrapped the book before I was tempted to try another recipe and get it dirty before I gave it to Erica. Another sigh.

Erica has tried quite a few of the recipes since Christmas and liked them all. She kept e-mailing me with updates. I tried this, I tried that. It was yummy. It was to-die-for. I had to get myself a copy of the book! Rick didn't understand my obsession. It's only a cookbook, he said. Come on, look at my shelves! I have as many cookbooks as he has music books. I have now made two more recipes: Jerk Pork with Yams, which was out of this world yummy; and last night I tried Chocolate Chicken Chili Soup, inspired by Rick's reading about chili peppers and the fact—most importantly—I happened to have all the ingredients on hand.

The whole idea of adding chocolate to the dish didn't excite me, though. I'm not a huge fan of cooking with chocolate. But the recipe promised that the amount of chocolate was subtle. And it was. Even Annalee, Miss Picky, enjoyed it. Rick says he'd like a bit more chocolate next time, though.

Next time. Hmmm, this is a three for three win on the recipes in this book so far. If Rick was doubtful before, he's not now. In fact, he might even buy me the cookbook so I can return this copy to the library. How about for Valentines Day some nice dark cooking chocolate and the Art of the Slow Cooker (hint hint). He might go for it because he opened the fridge earlier and searched desperately for leftovers to have for lunch. When I informed him there weren't any he physically deflated.

I won't ever buy a crockpot since it doesn't really fit into my non-electric (or minimal electric gadgets) stance, not to mention I have zero counter or cabinet storage space left, but the idea of slow cooking and the delicious from scratch recipes in this book are easily adapted to both clay pot cooking and solar cooking. Schloss says that the low setting on crockpots is about 200 and the high is 300, and clearly states how long to cook each recipe at either setting, making it easy to adapt the recipes for a conventional oven or the solar oven. I'm really looking forward to trying some of these outside when I can get a few decent hours of sunlight again.

As Schloss writes on the back cover: Good things come to those who wait. Amen. Now I just need to choose which recipe to try tonight!

Sweet Potatoes, Apples, and Simplicity

We often get an idea of what simplicity should look like and then we proceed to push and shove until, bruised and battered, we "fit." But that is not the way simplicity comes. It slips in unawares. A new sense of wonder, concentration, even profundity steels into our personality. We change our lifestyle, even taking up the ministry of poverty when it is clearly right and good, out of inner promptings, knowing that when the call is made the power is given. The tailor-made fit is perfect. Simplicity is grace.

–excerpted from Freedom of Simplicity by Richard J. Foster

I suppose we've always identified most with the testimony of simplicity. For us, it also meant no tv (still don't have one), and no dishwasher, air conditioner, mixer, clothes dryer, microwave, etc. We did most everything by hand. Playing music, books, food, homeschooling, gardening, running, dance, arts & crafts . . . these identified who we were, not fancy houses or expensive cars. And we did things together, as a family.

Rick worked as a fine arts photographer when we first got married, then opened a photolab. After 21 years, he closed the store in January 2008, death by digital photography. We were/are also performing as a family band, The Homegrown String Band. We've been playing together as a family since 1997 (the girls grew up in front of an audience), and have played some pretty cool venues, like the Appalachian Fiddle & Bluegrass Association's bluegrass festival in Wind Gap PA, the National Theatre in Washington DC, and the Festival of American Music in Branson MO, to name only a few. Like everything else, though, the arts were hit hard these last few years, gas prices have made traveling difficult, and so this year we seem to be surviving on a limited amount of library shows. Which is okay because library audiences are fantastic—they come to listen and to learn, and really appreciate our music.

Deciding to close the photolab was a hard decision—to go from a set weekly income to being dependent on an iffy amount of shows for an even iffier amount of pay was incredibly scary. But also kind of liberating. When your income level meets poverty guidelines, though, it's tough to stand up and say, yup, this is where I want to be right now. Family and friends tend to look at you in pity, like you're crazy. Did we really want to get this simple, does it hold meaning for us, and is simplicity really grace? 

I read tons of books (well, it seemed like it) these past few years, trying to find . . . hmm, others to identify with, I guess. Books I really enjoyed, and read several times over, were Radical Homemaking, Deep Economy, Un-jobbing, Simplicity: the Art of Living, and Not Buying It. We've also all learned new skills or expanded on others: Erica has become a published knitwear designer; Rick has learned to do kumihimo braiding, cast pewter buttons, make Navajo spindles, and is right now learning to weave on an inkle loom (along with much muttering); Annalee makes soap, has taken numerous herbal and wise woman courses, and started a blog; and I'm trying to learn to sew, I designed a cookbook for our Quaker meeting's 50th anniversary, and did go almost an entire year without buying anything except groceries (I gave in at Christmas and bought presents). Oh, I learned to woodburn, too, and decorate Rick's spindles. Erica, Annalee, and I were certified in Reiki level I. 

Each day is a wonderful blessing. Sure, the girls fight and argue and complain and whine, I get hot flashes and grouchy, and Rick gets moody at times. But it's all good. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining, and the solar oven was loaded with sweet potatoes & apples sprinkled with brown sugar. And, hey, we also got a practice session in.

Sweet Potatoes with Apples

(Sorry, I forgot to take photos)

• Peel two medium sized sweet potatoes and cut into rounds, about 1/4" thick

• Peel, core, and cut an apple (or two depending on size) into similar size slices as the sweet potato

• Toss with a few dabs of butter (about 2 tbl.) and brown sugar (about 1/4 cup)

Optional: Add a tablespoon or two (or three) of boiling water
when making in a solar oven, stir to mix, then continue on to next step.

(I've made this recipe without any liquid and wasn't as happy with the results,
so now I add a splash of water.)

• Drizzle the top with some maple syrup, and a dusting of cinnamon and another pinch of brown sugar

• Cover and put in the solar oven until the sweet potatoes and apples are soft

This should take 50–60 minutes at 350º in a regular oven, so adjust time accordingly.