Memorial Day

It was an entirely patriotic service, today, at church. Dough and Mary-Lou are back. It felt good. The congregation had carried together a list of over forty active members in the armed forces - including Reserves and US Marshals. The biggest group was the Army (12). The smallest the Air Force. The Marines had eight in their ranks from the community. There is one family that has eight active members in the forces, four in the Army, two each in the Navy and Air Force. I don't know if they are all brothers and sisters, or if there are cousins mixed in.

Steve is being counted among the active Marines. The women had made yellow ribbons with name tags and everybody took one or two and as the names were read the holder of ribbon and tag would go forward and tie the ribbon to one of the decorative trees in the pulpit area. For each service, the organ played their song, but softly. There were also some five retired members who were called to stand up and be counted.

In the course of the service we learned that already over a hundred and fifty years ago, somebody petitioned to have the Bible removed from public schools. The Supreme Court, in 1844, ruled against it, saying "to learn the meaning of morals, kindness and love, the New Testament is the very best source".

What happened since then? The negative trend continued until we now have - a low of morals, kindness, and love . . .

Have a happy Memorial Day, all of you.   Much Love, Isa

Life is good

From top to bottom row: green stem bac choi, kohlrabi, white stem bac choi, egg plant. You can tell who the slow pokes are. This was seeded on the 17th. There is another tray with sweet basil that I set up yesterday. Nothing showing there, yet:-). But I'm getting hungry for that pesto-pasta, and the fresh, young kohlrabi, and the baby egg fruit.

I'm having instead: black rice, flank steak, green peas and Paisano. Great color combination! Life is good.

Yellow with a profusion of dandelions

Yesterday, in replying to Olivia's recent e-mail, I mentioned that 'life on the mountain is a bit slow and lonely, but then in the explanation of my expression it turned out that life is good, slow is to be seen as what a farmer does who knows that the potatoes cannot be rushed, and lonely - ? - there is no way around it if one sees 'not lonely' as having a crowd of people around with life bubbling hard in the many separate activities of each. I am beginning to think the environment Lulu and I were subjected to during the years of separation from Mims and Pips prepared us for an existence of self reliance in our later years. Life in a home for children is lonely. parents might send their children to a 'kinderhim' for any reason, and one should think that the company of children is enough for children. But our many companions never stayed there for more than a few weeks at most and Lulu and I were there for all seasons of the war years and rare and always short indeed were the visits from either Mims, or Pips. There was never a chance to form any lasting relationships and this constant flow of strangers trains the soul to feel in good company with itself.

Yesterday morning when I left to visit Riina the back yard was yellow with a profusion of dandelions. Tall, healthy flours all and spread out like a carpet. They were still there in the evening, but this morning when I got up I was astounded: not a single blossom was to be seen! The heads hung on the stems as if they had wilted overnight. And yet, as I looked in astonishment, I began to see here and there a yellow spot and as I continued to wait for the rising spot yesterday's blossoms began to reappear, first one, then the other and the all, in a rush, and our back yard is yellow again.

We had heavy thunderstorms during the night. The rain gage recorded 2.1 inches and that between 10 last night and about 4:30 this morning. I better go to the garden patch and see how the asparagus fared in this deluge. Perhaps what looked like tiny weeds last night will look more like my anxiously awaited spinach today?

The picture is of the same branch of the lilac that I sent you a few days ago. Compare the two pictures and you see:

Like I said: life is slow up here.

With much love, and in the hope that you don't mind my 'thinking in black and white', and this deluge of personal thought that I keep sending you,

Isa

More Muffins

Tuesday, May 21, 2013, at 7:57 PM

Hi, Olivia.  How fun to hear from you! Life on the mountain in Vermont is somewhat lonely and slow and your e-mail comes like a sun-ray through the ether.

A few days ago, Riina and her son Kristjan came visiting. They came totally unannounced. First thing I knew of them was when they honked the horn down in the driveway. I was sitting at the dining room table, having just finished my lunch - a bit early, but my basic plan was to head down to Pittsfield, MA, where there is a Bed and Bath etc where I knew they carry those silicone muffin cups. But that early lunch consisted of the last slice of bread and the last slice of bacon and the last cup of coffee -- there was simply nothing in the pantry or refrigerator to entertain welcome guests. Luckily, Riina felt my distress and asked for a glass of water and Kristjan wanted nothing. They left a couple of hours after refreshing conversation and stopped at one of the fast food places along the road. I'm sooooo embarrassed! Riina brought a 'Visitor's Present', a bottle of wine and a piece of her saia. And I felt so uncomfortable letting the two of them into a bachelor's household where stock is kept low enough to satisfy one lonely eater. Nay, uncomfortable is the wrong word - embarrassed is closer, and wanting to sink under the floorboards is more descriptive of how I felt.

Today I made a return visit to Riina, and mindful of my duties as a guest I brought her a bottle of wine (hear, hear!) and six fresh Miss Ellen's muffins which I baked when I got up this morning. The dough is really marvelously forgiving while standing in the refrigerator. It is now just about two weeks old, I think. Anyway, I made sure that everything was right by baking seven muffins and trying one during my own breakfast. That left me six to give away, and did longing eyes follow them at Riina's house :-) They are good. Riina liked them well enough to ask for the recipe and I just sent it to her and very soon we can have Miss Ellen's muffins almost anywhere along the eastern sea board :-)

Tomorrow, I must mow the grass again. The blossoms of the dandelions down behind the house in the the yard are almost tall enough to be picked while you're standing on the deck.  That is, of course, a slight exaggeration, but you are willing to let me have a little literary freedom, don't you? I also have to do laundry and look after my garden. I started a seed bed with kohlrabi, bak choi - both green and white stems - end egg plant. All these are in starter beds indoors in the greenhouse. I already have spinach seed out in the garden and now is the time to harvest the asparagus as they come out of the ground. There was one stalk this morning among others. It had been hidden under the rhubarb that is growing next to the asparagus area and by the time the stalk showed itself between those big rhubarb leaves it was two feet long and I fear that much of it is already woodsy. But the young stalks, they are so tender and sweet  - so far I have eaten them in the garden, fresh as they get big enough to pick, which usually amounted to two or three young stalks at a time, but now the ground is getting warmer and they come more rapidly, so, perhaps, I'll get some for one of my dinners. I also harvested some rhubarb some days ago, cooked it up, let it cool and had it for dessert that same evening over plain yogurt.

You see, even though I appear to be complaining about a life, being slow and lonely up here, it is never dull and it is a life fit to enjoy and it is a good life - both in quality of life itself and what's up for eats -- if there is anything in the pantry or in the garden :-)

Love, Opa
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Friday, May 24, 2013, at 1:47 PM

Dear Opa,

 Yesterday was the last day of co-op classes and tonight is graduation, so we seem to be on a downward slope towards summer break.  I am very sorry to hear that you feel lonely up in Vermont; I wish we could come to visit.  I promise, though, that if we do, we will not arrive unannounced, as a family of six may be quite a shock, especially if the pantry supply is running slim. 

Our garden is coming along quite nicely as well!  We, too have asparagus stalks shooting up.  Often times, we leave them too long that they begin looking like little trees.  We also have a plot of strawberry plants, which we planted last summer, that already have large green berries collecting on the ends of the vines.  I check almost every day to see if any have turned red yet.  So far no luck. 

The weather is very strange here these days.  One minute it will be pouring down rain like a tropical storm, and the next minute the sun will be shining in the skies just as warm as ever.  It wouldn't be so strange except for the fact that when the sun comes out, I look outside and there are barely any clouds out there.  Then the clouds scurry back and it starts raining again.  I wish we could just have one day of rain and the next of sun, because Grampa has opened his pool and I enjoy going for a swim.

I liked your description of the dandelion blossoms; our grass is growing quickly, too.  Philip said he would have to start mowing twice a week so that our lawn doesn't look unkempt.

I hope your loneliness eases as you see the signs of life blossoming around you.  I miss you and hope to see you soon. 

Much love from, Olivia
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Sunday, June 2, 2013, at 2:47 PM

Dear Opa,

Here is a picture the first harvest of strawberries from our garden.  I am so happy to pick berries from a plant!  It makes someone feel like summer has really finally started.

Hope all is well!

Love,

Olivia 

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Monday, June 3, 2012, at 8:29 PM

Olivia! That is a huge harvest you got there. And home grown with guaranteed nothing on them than what you put on. And you can keep them fresh on the vine until they are ripe! Oh, heaven! I just came back from the supermarket with a pack of strawberries to put some cheer into my raw bits, but without even tasting them I know the limitations they have in flavor and texture. You do have a heavenly gift in front of you there.

Up here on the mountain, all is well. We've had thunderstorms every evening but they did do no damage, even though they brought a lot of water. I am happy I was able to keep up with the grass cutting, so far, because the green stuff is literally shutting out of the ground right behind the mower. But I could not go into my beginner's garden and turn over the soil and get the weeds out to start planting my veggies. I hope that will come now, though. I have seedlings coming up and by the time they are ready for planting, I hope I will be ready too.

You write beautifully, Olivia! Keep practicing it. It is a gift not everyone is blessed with. I really enjoy getting you letters. 

See you soon? Now that vacation is on, what are you plans?

Oh, look, there just came a doe out of the woods and is nibbling on the grass in the pasture. I wish sometimes I had a long lens so I could take pictures of what is happening down there by the woods. We saw turkey, and, of course, Canada geese, and ducks and once even a young moose cow. And there are birds - So many of them. I tried to identify what I see but then I read Tante Lulu's Field guide to the birds and there are so many similar ones that, while I'm searching, the live one flies away and I never can definitely say "here, that's the one".

Olivia, you won't believe this, but that doe came to pasture with her Bambi! He is so small and the grass is so tall I could not see him till just a moment ago. They got out into a patch of grass that's growing a bit slower than the rest and I could see there was something moving in a different way than the doe and then all of a sudden I was looking into his eyes as he looked out between two grass clumps straight up to the house. Oh, how exciting! I'll watch till it gets too dark.

With loving thoughts to you, Opa

Spring

Spring has returned for a few days. The lilac is getting ready to bloom. Happy weekend to you all.

Lunner

Rain stopped all productive desires outdoors. ;-)  But household  duties continue. 

Produced on KP today: mixed veggies - at long last, that's the end of them - forbidden rice, boneless chicken thighs, slow fried in Teriyaki marinade, spinach salad with Catalina dressing, and Carelli 34, Malbec 2012 Argentina. The photo does not do the wine justice. The color is a deep, dark red, almost like an old Madeira, and it crosses your lips with an almost solid feel. On the tongue it blooms into a most amazing bouquet of spices and words fail me to attach names to its components. It is excellent with highly spiced food, but what the importer claims are light tannins are a strength (direction sharp, almost sour) that takes it out of the realm of casual sipping wines after the food is gone. It appears to have little aging potential, judging by the fact that the vintner took it out of his bins not even a year old and shipped it to Rutland, VT for further distribution. The importer took it to the Co-op in Brattleboro where it is being sold at 9.99. Does not compare with Paisano, but is a definite and pleasant relief from the monotony of a big bottle.

Had six asparagus stems for snacks before lunner, fresh out of the garden and heated by the sun that shone before the rain clouds moved in. 

Muffins

It was served at 1 PM today because I got up a 4:30 in obeisance of Iivo's instructions to experiment with the sleep pattern. I had my raw bits for breakfast at 5:30 and the wait for something substantial got to be very long. Changing the sleep pattern naturally affects the eating pattern. Passing the time with voting on two Swiss reverendi and going to town for medication and mower gas, I also made the shown desert: Miss Ellen's bran muffins. Same recipe I sent you, Olivia. Did you ever make them? How did they turn out? These that come out of my oven are not half bad. There is something funnily chewy with their texture. I had one for desert and later on we'll have afternoon tea with fresh bran muffins. We? ernie is not really part of this. Next: muffins that were made with the dough having rested in the refrigerator. Additional experiments: muffins made with dough having gone through progressively longer resting periods. The recipe yields enough dough to keep me going for the six weeks Miss Ellen says the dough can be kept refrigerated. Perhaps you'll hear more about that as things develop.       Love, Opa

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Friday, May 17, 2013, at 8:15 AM

Opa,

Those muffins look so good!  I have not had the chance to make that particular recipe yet; I have not been to the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients.  I hope to soon, though.

Love, Olivia

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 Friday, May 17, 2013, at 8:10 PM

Olivia, 

I had, of course, much dough left over and as Miss Ellen had promised that it would keep for some weeks, I put it in the refrigerator. Yesterday, in a store I came across a set of those newfangled muffin cups, they are made of plastic and promise that you can just pop your muffins out and clean-up will be easy. I took those things home and tried them this morning - fresh muffins for breakfast, with sweet whipped butter, mmmmh. And there is still dough left over in the fridge! It is soon one week old and none the worse for age. And I am sure one can make variations: the fresh berries are showing up in the stores. How about red raspberry muffins? Never had any before, but instead of putting jam on the muffin, how about putting fresh fruit in? 

Those plastic cups, by the way. Make things easy: Four muffins, or even two, just a many cups in the sink for quick clean-up instead of handling a whole sheet with twelve cups. Grrrreat!

Your school year is going to be over soon? What are your plans for the summer?

Love, Opa

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Sunday, May 19, 2013, at 12:38 PM

Dear Opa,

Those muffin cups you were talking about: They sound like such a good idea!  My least favorite part of making muffins is cleaning up the muffin tins afterwards. 

I think putting berries in the muffins sounds marvelous.  When it starts getting warmer you could also put some fresh blue berries in them from down by the pond or even black currants!  May want to sprinkle a little sugar on the top of the currant muffins, though. ;) 

Yes, school is almost over; I have one week left of co-op.  Exams are on Tuesday and the last day is Thursday.  I'm a little nervous for my exams but I'm sure I'll be able to manage them.  I will have a bit of school to do over the summer but not as heavy of a work load. 

Hope to hear back from you soon!

Love, Olivia

How many zeros in a billion?

It's a re-cap, but still so to the point.

$1,000,000,000

This is too true to be funny.  The next time you hear a politician use the Word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about Whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, But one advertising agency did a good job of Putting that figure into some perspective in One of it's releases.  A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.  B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.  C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were Living in the Stone Age.  D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.  E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, At the rate our government Is spending it.  While this thought is still fresh in our brain... let's take a look at New Orleans ... It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) Is presently asking Congress for  250 BILLION DOLLARS To rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number... >What does it mean?  A. Well .. If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) You each get $516,528.  B.. Or.... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787..  C. Or... If you are a family of four.... Your family gets $2,066,012.  Washington , D. C  HELLO!  Are all your calculators broken?? Building Permit Tax CDL License Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax (Fed) Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) IRS Penalties(tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Tax Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service charge taxes Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax (Truckers) Sales Taxes Recreational Vehicle Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Tax Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax (And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)  STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago..... And our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt.... We had the largest middle class in the world..... And Mom stayed home to raise the kids.  What happened? Can you spell:  'POLITICIANS!'  And I still have to Press '1' For English.  I hope this goes around  the U S A At least 100 times  What the heck happened???

Triticale

There are two interesting publications on the web, covering the subject. One is from Wikipedia and the other from Purdue University. I am sure there are many others. These two, which I picked because they appear right at the beginning of the search results, are so similar in content, they could possibly be produced one from the other. Triticale is a cross of wheat and rye, a hybrid that to my great surprise was stared back in 1875 with the first organized research conducted by the Canadians at the university of Manitoba. The two articles appear to suggest that triticale  simply combines the qualities of wheat and rye, and benefits culture in 'challenged growth regions'. It's main use is a feed grain for cattle even though it is hoped to elevate it to the level of human consumption (?). Otherwise, the analysis of nutritional values does not suggest any benefits other than in small quantitative variation from its two parents. Why then should a product like that delicious Bob's Red Mill 5-grain contain wheat and rye, and also triticale? It can make no other contribution than bulk, probably at a lower cost than what would be attached to the same bulk of its two parent grains. But it is not what nature intended!

I have experimented with making my own 5-grain, getting all components from the Brattleboro Co-op bulk department. There are problems with texture coming from triticale and flax seeds. Both are in the original grain form, while all other components are rolled. To soften them up, I tried sprouting first. Triticale did fine, yielding a pleasant semi-hard texture after two days of sprouting. Flax seed is not recommended: it developed a slimy side product that caused all grains to clump and to stick to any surface it comes in contact with. Washing was ineffective and caused great loss in the tiny seeds clinging to the sieve in which I tried rinsing them. Then I lost more in the paper towel with which I tried to extract some of the water, since I wanted the - otherwise very effective - sprouting to stop. Finally, I mixed the two seeds with the other components of my 'raw bits' and arrived at a rather very tolerable product for the next few days. In that period, all the other grains (oats, barley, wheat and rye) absorbed the remainder of the sprouting moisture from the triticale and flax and the whole mixture assembled to an almost solid, but luckily very brittle clump that had to be treated vigorously with a spoon to break it up and make it conform to the bowl. Else, taste is good!

Not wanting to repeat the sprouting experience, today I used Tanti's old Vitamix (ca. 1954) and smashed the triticale and flax seeds. I did not run the machine until I got fine flour, but the resulting fine gravel gives a rather exciting texture to the mix of the other rolled grains. I think with that approach I am cut loose from the fickle supply line from Bob's Red Mill and am my own independent producer, which allows me to draw the consequences from the beginning of this paper: eliminate the triticale, which is nothing but simply more of two of the other components of the five grain mix.

Wishing you a wonderful day, Isa

Black Rice

Have you seen this? It makes it sound like black, or forbidden rice, is rather a 'must have' than a luxurious oddity. Looking it up to learn how to cook it. Last time I tried it with Karl being my audience it was rather al dente; but still astoundingly different from white or even wild rice. Today's menu: Black rice and stir fry veggies with grilled shrimp and spinach salad - also, some of that famous Viognier. Happy Mothers day, you two.

Love, Isa

PS: Reading the title of this article I take a second look. I have never found any blueberries in any rice. Have you? :-)