Sons and grandsons

Posted on May 10, 2011 by heidiannie

Here is my son, Luke.

He came from a busy week of work to make a wonderful meal for his wife and I

for Mother’s Day! We had baked sockeye salmon, roasted ramps and asparagus,

King Trumpet sauteed mushrooms, fresh lettuce salad with pear basalmic vinegar and

a marvelous Australian pepper olive oil, a selection of gouda and feta cheeses with

luscious olives and crusty fresh baked bread. It was delicious.

And here is Jordan, our youngest son- he just turned 25 last week.

What a treat to have both boys here to share this fine repast!

Kieran was in such a happy mood- smiling a blessing at all around him-

Grandpa sure enjoyed this time together!

Aidan’s favorite is always the bread- foccacia and seven grain- this time.

Although the fruit- mangos and raspberries- made everyone quite happy!

Yes, everyone was quite happy.

Even my husband. ~~Grumps,~~ I mean Gramps!

Ramps and where to get them

Posted on May 9, 2011 by heidiannie

Ramps are wild onions.

They grow in wooded and damp areas in West Virginia, Ohio, and

probably most states in the Midwest.

The flavor is rather mild when you consider the reputation- and , in

my opinion, they aren’t any worse on the breath than any other

onion.

Luke, Jordan and I bought some at Mustard Seed Market for

$5.99 a pound, so they certainly aren’t cheap. (Although a lady

walking by as we picked ours out said we could go to Furnace Run,

in Richfield and pick them for free- except it is against the law to

pick things in the MetroParks. So I don’t think I’ll be doing that.)

You could probably plant some and let then multiply in a quiet corner

of your garden- but they DO multiply- and then you pull up every

second plant.

Cut off the root section, like you would a scallion, and any part of the

green that is discolored or damaged,

layer them with some fresh asparagus, drizzle with olive oil, lemon

juice,sea salt and pepper and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes.

The result is slightly crunchy and sour and salty.

YUM!

JOY!!!

Posted on May 7, 2011 by heidiannie

Psalm 113

Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God!
      Just to speak his name is praise!
   Just to remember God is a blessing—
      now and tomorrow and always.
   From east to west, from dawn to dusk,
      keep lifting all your praises to God!
^4-9 God is higher than anything and anyone,
      outshining everything you can see in the skies.
   Who can compare with God, our God,
      so majestically enthroned,
   Surveying his magnificent
      heavens and earth?
   He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,
      rescues the wretched who’ve been thrown out with the trash,
   Seats them among the honored guests,
      a place of honor among the brightest and best.
   He gives childless couples a family,
      gives them joy as the parents of children.
   Hallelujah!

Happy Mother’s Day!

“Remember God is a blessing-

now and tomorrow and always.”

The whole patriarchal language of the Bible

renders most of our references to God as “HE”-

MALE. But there are other references that speak of a mother

figure- El Shaddai – being the most obvious in speaking of God

as a nursing mother. Shad meaning breast.

I love the imagery of our Mother/Father God who nurtures Her/His children.

God is our perfect parent. And He shares the wealth by giving us children-

gives us joy as the parents of children.

My niece recently adopted a little boy.

He has become a welcome and essential member of our family.

Happy Mother’s Day to Willow and Allyson, my favorite young mothers.

Happy Mother’s Day to Clarice, my heart mother, whom I love and honor and respect.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are mothers- and know that particular blessing,

trial, and joy.

Hallelujah!

Perfect Mom faces! I’m watching you- be careful- stop- don’t move-

What are you doing???

Fig and Hazelnut Bread

Posted on May 5, 2011 by heidiannie

My friend, Joanna, posted this bread on her blog , Zeb Bakes .

Only hers looks a lot better than mine.

It is so very good. I kind of fudged on her recipe, because it is in grams and I

am a firm believer in cups and ounces, tablespoons, and Farenheit temperatures.

So this is my recipe.

3 cups bread flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rye flour

1 or 2 TBSP soft butter

2 tsps sea salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tsps yeast

1 1/2 cups of sliced dried figs

1 cup partially chopped hazelnuts

1 TBSP fennel seed

(optional- 1/2 tsp finely minced rosemary)

Mix together flours and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and

pour water and yeast into the well. Mix the yeast (add 1/2 tsp sugar, to get it started)

and let it sit for a couple of minutes to prove the yeast.

Add butter and mix well, adding warm water to get a pliable dough- up to 3/4 cup more.

When the dough is well mixed, add the figs, hazelnuts and fennel.

Knead for about 10 minutes and then place in a well greased bowl and cover.

Let this raise for about 2 1/2 hours- poke it with your finger to make sure it is flexible.

Shape into a ball and place into a bowl that has a piece of parchment paper molded into it.

Raise for another hour and a half-preheat oven and cast iron kettle to 425 degrees F

and then carefully lift edges of parchment paper and place entire dough into kettle and

cover with a lid. Bake for 25 minutes with lid on- then lower the heat to 375 and take off

the lid and bake another 20 minutes.

It is great with butter, or toasted, and today we had ham sandwiches with it and they

were magnificent.

Phone calls that take you back-

Posted on May 4, 2011 by heidiannie

Ha –ha! Not this far back! My Uncle Adam and my mother in 1920.

Yesterday I got a call asking about my mother’s married status in

1994. It was for an improperly filled out land deed transaction and

the clerk just wanted to fill in the missing information.

I gave her what she needed and the call was over in just a couple of

minutes. But I have been skimming around in those years now-

looking at the past. Rethinking and remembering.

Here she is again in 1935- about 17 years old.

My parents anniversary is coming up on May 6th. When he died,

they had been married for 32 years. She lived another 34 years as

a widow- not interested in marrying again- she said there was no

one else she could love like she did my father.

And here they are- she is about 32 here- so around- I don’t know-

my brain isn’t up to math today.

But there they are- in love- facing life and death together.

I miss my parents.

They were brave and beautiful.

They lived through tumultuous times and survived.

They loved and lost and won and gave their children

a firm base to grow upon.

And now I’M Grandma.

Funny- I still feel like a little girl.

Crystalizing violets

Posted on May 2, 2011 by heidiannie

First you have to pick them!

No pictures of that. With my sciatica still verging in the background,

I wasn’t going to try sitting to pick, so there would have been a lot

of backside bending pictures- and I will tell you that I have no intention

of ever willingly posting any picture of that!

I picked a lot of violets.

And then I got out the super fine sugar and added a little violet colored

sugar and whirred it about in the food processor to make it all very fine.

Then I beat an egg white by hand and foamed up the top so that I could paint

the surface of the petals.

You have to paint both front and back of each petal and then dredge them with

sugar. And then- either allow them to air dry- which takes several days- or

pop them into the microwave and dry them in 15 second bursts of power.

Check for dryness after each 15 second interval. You want them to dry- not cook, or

HORRORS, burn.

There is a lot of moisture in a violet, so it may take a while to dry- but keep a close

eye on the whole process- it takes a long time to make these delectable beauties

But they make the most beautiful and tasty garnish for lemon curd tartlets.

I made about 80 violet confections over the weekend.

My husband thinks I’m nuts.

Well, maybe.

Steps On The Journey

walk with me a while

Monthly Archives: May 2011