Monthly Archives: October 2009

Seventh Grandson Quilt-for Quilt Festival

art, crafts, family

I just now heard about the virtual Fall Quilt Festival at Amy’s blog. Convenient, since I recently made my first quilt in more than 25 years, and the first for one of my grandchildren, now numbering nine. This blog post is my entry into the festival fun, and will be redundant to many readers of my blog. But even they might like to hop over to Amy’s and join in, if only to browse the many, many wonderful quilts and their stories.

When I decided to make this gift, we didn’t know the sex of the child. The parents love the outdoors and live in the forest, so I decided to do a farm or woodsy theme. When I visited a quilting store, these fabrics were the only ones that seemed to fit my vague imaginings.

The quilt was finished in time for the pre-birth baby shower, where a total of four handmade quilts were given, mine definitely the homeliest. Also the largest; it is approximately “crib sized.” It was tied with six strands of embroidery floss, and designed following the ultra-simple pattern I used for the other two baby quilts I made long ago. I backed it in yellow popcorn Minky.

At completion I wrote a long blog post with many photos of the process, which you can visit if you want to see just how rough my work was!

 

The Child came into the world just two days ago, and as I type, my daughter is holding him nearby, wrapped in the very blanket!

 

The Boy Has Arrived and is Looking Around

church, family

I was cheating a little bit, or declaring in faith, I will let the reader choose, when I recently put on my Blogger profile that I am grandmother of nine. Number Nine arrived today, on his due date. He is the seventh boy. Each grandboy who is the oldest of his siblings–and in all three families of my married children the oldest child is a boy–has a name that begins with C.

But these patterns are not so engaging as was this slippery child as he emerged into daylight and his mother’s arms. I was impressed at how the staff at this small-town hospital encouraged all the practices our generation had to fight for. Baby was birthed and instantly put on his mom’s chest, and no one wanted to disturb him for a very long time. Eventually he was swaddled, and while his mom ate supper I rocked my grandbaby and sang lullabies. It’s been quite a few years since my last opportunity, but I still remember the songs about colors of ponies, Daddies gone hunting, and the Wind of the Western Sea.

A newborn baby has a way of startling us oldsters–and all of us are old and dried-out by comparison–into catching a glimpse of the mystery and wonder of life. What else on earth but a freshly-born human is so fascinating in that he is clearly one of our kind, but out-of-this world new and different. No wonder I like to think that they fall out of Heaven, or that storks bring them.

Waiting-and Ropas Viejas

animals, family, food and cooking, travel

I’m at my daughter’s in the north country, waiting on Baby to arrive. And I brought the recipe with me for the spicy shredded beef the Mexicans call Ropas Viejas. Several people said they would like that recipe after I mentioned having made it in my last post. I got this recipe from Sunset Magazine a long time ago.
This is just a photo copied from my first post about this place, because it’s a shame not to have a picture, it is so lovely up here. As soon as I arrived I glimpsed another part of the deer clan that call it home as well, Crazy Doe and her fawn, and Split Ear (young buck). Maybe I will get some more deer pictures while I am here.

Ropas Viejas

2# boneless beef chuck, trimmed of most of the fat
Place in a 5-6-quart pan with 1/4 cup of water. (I always use cast iron, but I don’t think it’s necessary.) Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid boils away and meat is well-browned; turn as needed.

Lift out meat. To pan, add 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar; scrape to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1 1/2 cups beef broth, 2 tablespoons chili powder, and 1 teaspoon ground cumin.

Return meat to the pan, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over medium heat until meat is very tender and easily pulled apart, about 2 hours.

Let meat cool, then tear into shreds. Mix with remaining pan juices. Use to fill enchiladas or burritos.

Korean Kale Salad

food and cooking, garden, home, housework

The washer repairman didn’t call, didn’t come, so I was “stuck” at home all day. As I got busy cooking up lots of stuff in the fridge, and harvesting from the garden, and then cooking that, I remembered why I love getting stuck at home. So much gets done, when I get some momentum.

1) I made Ropas Viejas from beef chuck, for filling burritos. This means “old clothes” in Spanish, and is shredded, seasoned meat. We’ll have burritos tomorrow and use that, and I’ll have some to freeze.

2) I made a soup stock from some lamb bones, and took the meat off to add back to the soup.

3) I picked about 20 pimientos and for the first time tried roasting them under the broiler and my, did the skins come off easily. A few pieces I nibbled on like candy, and they were that sweet, and most of them I froze.

4) I made Red Pepper Butter by mixing two of the roasted peppers with sweet butter in the food processor; then I froze it in a jar for something…later.

5) I cut yams lengthwise and brushed them with olive oil, then sprinkled on salt, pepper and fresh rosemary (which I’d just picked from the back yard) and roasted them for dinner.

Then, after dinner, I got around to the kale that I bought a few days ago, and made Korean Kale Salad. This recipe I adapted from one in Sunset Magazine some years back. For number of ingredients, and simplicity of preparation, it is easy. I haven’t run across anyone who doesn’t like this salad. I had the nerve to serve it for Thanksgiving dinner the first time, and the guests were thrilled to have a tasty green vegetable that wasn’t cooked to death.

You start with 12 ounces of curly kale, which should be about a bunch. I haven’t weighed mine before, but I suspect that the bunches are getting smaller, because the salad seemed to get saltier every time I made it. So I reduced the salt in the recipe. If you find that it is not salty enough, you know what to do.

Tear your kale into bite-sized pieces, throwing out the tougher stems and veins. Wash it in a big bowl or the sink. Boil water in a pot and throw the raw kale in. Push it down with a spoon and keep it under the water until it is wilted. The original recipe said 4 minutes but I call that cooked. I blanch mine for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Dump it into a colander and let it drain. I have a huge colander, so don’t let my photos scare you. I doubled the recipe because I have the equipment, and because I can eat a lot of this salad. By the way, a bunch is said to make 6 servings.

When the wilted kale is cool enough, grab it by bunches
and squeeze all the water you can out of it.

 

I ended up with 9 or 10 little wads of squeezed-dry kale.

Make the dressing, which has evolved under my culinary direction to consist of 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil and 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

It’s a good idea to whisk the two together in a cup.

Put the kale in a bowl and toss it for a while to open up the leaves again. Sometimes I have to use my hands again at this point, or a couple of forks.

Pour on the dressing and toss another while. It does take some time to get the dressing evenly spread around.

It looks nice if you toast some sesame seeds and sprinkle them on top.

I had so much fun today, it left me with not enough time to post pictures of all the other stuff I made. The repairman finally did come, and my washer had healed itself temporarily, so tomorrow I’ll do laundry.