Peeling a Potato

The comfortable fit of a potato in my hand

Peeling a potato

Peeling a Potato
by Ted Kooser

Pablo Casals should see me now,
bowing this fat little cello,
peeling off long white chords.

I am not famous like Pablo,
not yet.  The amphitheater
of the kitchen sink is nearly empty.
As the notes reel out,
I hear only the hesitant clapping
of a few moist hands.

I am playing the solo variations
of J. S. Bach. Wonderfully,
I sweep with my peeler.  See me lean
into the work, tight lipped,
the light in my hair.  Inspiration
trickles over my handsome old hands.

Varieties of potatoes at a farmers' market

“Let the skies rain potatoes.”
     — William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

 

Made by Hand

Hand-quilting a baby quilt

Finished baby quilt -- Yellow Brick Road pattern

“A woman must cultivate the practical arts, and lend to them that satisfaction of beauty, that the soul might flourish, and the hands be remembered past death.”
     — Karen Fisher, A Sudden Country

I find comfort and satisfaction in working with my hands.  When I was in Minnesota, I mentioned to my sister that I needed a small project to fill the hours while I hung out with her at her job in a quilt store, and also to pass the time while I kept my Dad company at the farm.  One of my co-workers is having a baby soon, and I thought I might want to work on a baby quilt.  My sister happened to have a small quilt top pieced from scraps that would work as a baby quilt.  All I had to do was put on the backing, batting, and binding, and then hand-quilt it.

I haven’t done much sewing or quilting this year. When I pick up a project after a long hiatus I immediately feel rewarded, and I wonder how I can have abandoned handwork for so long.  I like the finished quilt, which is wrapped in memories of fall days and family.  I trust that my co-worker loves it, too.

Rotisserie Chicken

Rotisserie chicken from Costco

I find the rotisserie chickens from Costco a great convenience on days when I don’t want to cook a big dinner.  It feels like a pricey indulgence compared to cooking a chicken from scratch, but stretching the leftovers into another meal or two turns the purchase into a good buy.

Here are the meals we enjoyed from our most recent rotisserie chicken:

• We ate everything but the breasts for our first chicken dinner, served with homemade corn bread, green beans, cranberry salad, and apple pie for dessert (dinner for 3). 
• I set aside a few slices of white meat for sandwiches for my lunches (3 lunches) 
• I used the rest of the leftover breast meat in a stew made with garbanzo beans, cauliflower, and a bit of diced pepper, all cooked together in Trader Joe’s masala simmering sauce. I served the stew over quinoa (dinner for 3). 
•  And finally, I poured hot water over the jellied juices at the bottom of chicken platter from the store , and then I froze this broth for soups at some later date. 

The first big meal of chicken

Sandwiches with leftover sliced chicken

Chicken stew in masala simmering sauce

Rainy Day Pleasures

Rainy day pleasures -- piles of books

“Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”
     — Flavia, a character from The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Yesterday was my day off work, and because it was rainy outside, I did not feel guilty about curling up with some good books.  Right now I have a rather daunting stack of books to read, but I can think of few greater pleasures than reading them, one after the other, with our cat Jellybean warming my lap.

Jellybean warms my lap as I read on the couch.

Autumn’s Beautiful Face

“No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace,
As I have seen in one autumnal face.”
     — John Donne

Red maples glow as the morning mist lifts at Greenlake

A biker enjoys the tree-lined path at Greenlake

Morning fog on Phinney Ridge up from Greenlake

Two rowers enjoy a November morning at Greenlake

Blue heron on the shore at Greenlake

Busy squirrel on a bench at Greenlake

I took these photos on Tuesday’s walk around Greenlake with my friend Ann. It was a perfect, crisp fall morning.  How lucky I am to have such a beautiful park in my neighborhood.

Trader Joe’s Shopping Spree

Some of my favorite Trader Joe's items

I go to Trader Joe’s for a few items that I like to have on hand in my pantry and freezer:  masala simmering sauce, frozen green beans, and frozen endamame.  There’s a Trader Joe’s just a mile or so from my home, so it’s easy to swing by when I’m out running errands.

What Trader Joe’s items can’t you live without?  One of the Seattle Times food writers, Nancy Leson, wrote an article about her Trader Joe’s favorites, and she invites readers to share theirs.  You can find the article here http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/allyoucaneat/2009943307_trader_joes_whats_in_your_shop.html

After reading the article, I decided I’d try the Trader Joe’s refrigerated pizza dough.  It was easy to use, quick, and tasty, too.  I’m sure I’ll buy it again.

Using Trader Joe's refrigerated pizza dough for the first time

Pizza hot from the oven and ready to eat

The public library has a book, Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s by Deanna Gunn and Wona Miniati that will give you even more ideas to add to your Trader Joe’s shopping list.

Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's

Minnesota Wild Rice

Soup made with Minnesota wild rice and mushrooms

I think that regional food specialties make good souvenirs.  I returned home from Minnesota with three pounds of wild rice in my carry-on luggage.  This week I made Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup by adapting a recipe I found on the Thimbleberries Quilting website http://www.thimbleberries.com/pages?id=278.  I added mushrooms and omitted the bacon, parsley and almonds.

Lynette’s Wild Rice Soup
by Lynette Jensen

2 medium stalks celery, sliced
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 c)
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1-1/2 c cooked wild rice
2 c chicken broth
1 c whole cream
1/3 c toasted slivered almonds
1/4 c snipped parsley
4 slices thick, lean bacon cooked and crumbled

Cook wild rice following package directions.  Cook and stir celery, carrot, onion and green pepper in butter in 3-quart saucepan until celery is tender (about 5 minutes).  Stir in flour, salt and pepper.  Add chicken broth slowly, stirring constantly to blend in flour.  Add wild rice.  Heat to boiling.

Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.  Stir in cream, almonds, parsley, and bacon.  Heat just until hot, but do not boil.

Makes 5 servings, about 1 cup each.

Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

My oldest sister’s favorite wild rice recipe follows:

Hunter’s Wild Rice Casserole

Brown together: 2 lbs meat (duck, venison, pheasant, elk, or beef)
3/4 c chopped onion
2 c chopped celery

Place browned ingredients in a casserole dish and add:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 to 2 cans mushrooms
5 or 6 Tbsp soy sauce
1 c wild rice (uncooked)
3-1/2 c boiling water

Stir together and bake, uncovered, for 1-1/2 hours at 350 degrees.  This will look very watery and you will wonder if it will turn out — it does. . . perfect every time.

 

Roads Taken

Country road near Kensington, Minnesota

“When all’s said and done, all roads lead to the same end.  So it’s not so much which road you take, as how you take it.”
     — Charles de Lint

I came across this quote in The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother’s Memoir by Katrina Kenison.  It’s a timely reminder to live my days with awareness and appreciation, being open to love and opportunity.

 

Simple Goodness

A simple breakfast

 

Everything Good is Simple
by Nikki Giovanni in Bicycles: Love Poems

Everything good is simple:  a soft-boiled egg . . . toast fresh from the
oven with a pat of butter swimming in the center . . . steam off a cup
of black coffee . . . John Coltrane bringing me “Violets for My Furs”

Most simple things are good:  Lines on a yellow legal pad . . . dimples
defining a smile . . . a square of gray cashmere that can be a scarf . . .
Miles Davis Kind of Blue

Some things clear are complicated:  believing in a religion . . . trying
to be a good person . . . getting rid of folk who depress you . . . Horace
Silver Blowing the Blues Away

Complicated things can be clear:  Dvorak’s New World Symphony . . .
Alvin Ailey’s Revelations . . . Mae Jamison’s ride in space . . . Mingus
Live at Carnegie Hall

All things good are good:  poetry . . . patience . . . a ripe tomato on the
vine . . . a bat in flight . . .  the new moon . . .  me in your arms . . .
things like that

Black and Gold

House on North 81st St in the Greenwood neighborhood

Black and Gold
by Nancy Byrd Turner

Everything is black and gold,
     Black and gold tonight:
Yellow pumpkins, yellow moon,
     Yellow candlelight;
Jet-black cat with golden eyes,
     Shadows black as ink,
Firelight blinking in the dark
     With a yellow blink.
Black and gold, black and gold,
     Nothing in between –
When the world turns
     Black and gold,
Then it’s Halloween!