Snowshoeing

Yesterday, rather spontaneously, I drove down to Cannon Falls to go snowshoeing.  A friend from church lives there, and has shoes she said I could borrow.  I happen to love that area, and am starting to get tired of suburbia.  Maybe I'll move there someday.

 

How's library school going?

Lots of people have asked me this recently, and I've been so busy and sick that I haven't been able to give a good answer.  But tonight's class made me realize some really neat things that I wanted to share.

Book Review: Jayber Crow

Jayber Crow: The Life Story of Jayber Crow, Barber, of the Port William Membership, as Written by Himself
by Wendell Berry

This was recommended to me by a good friend, upon hearing that I'd started reading fiction about farming and small-town life.  He cautioned me that it moves very slowly, and not to get impatient with it.

Maybe it's because I've got the flu, but I wasn't impatient with it for a minute.  It certainly does ramble along, not always logically or chronologically, but it keeps moving and is never boring.

It's the story of a man's life, from childhood outside the small town of Port William, orphaned twice, oppressively schooled at an orphanage and later a college, how he started his trade of barbering and was gradually pulled back by the gravity of his hometown.

There is a good portion of philosophy about God, life, and love, but it's never heavy-handed or proselytizing.  (Holy cow, I spelled that right on the first try!)  Mostly, it is conversational, like an old man telling of his life and what he learned.

I loved it.  It fit perfectly the kind of story I wanted to read just now.  Berry (or supposedly Crow) often describes the life of the river near his home, and the story is like that.  Sometimes slow, sometimes reflective, and sometimes flooded or wild.  Just like life, in his view.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the minutiae of daily life that I forget the whole, beautiful flow of it.

Spinach, Artichoke, and Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Today is the Superbowl; I have little interest in football, and probably won't watch any of it.  However, something about this time of year makes me crave delicious and unhealthy hot dips.  Today's is my own concoction of spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and, of course, cheese.

Ingredients:
Frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts
1 roasted red pepper
Mayonnaise
Cheese
Worcestershire sauce
Garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350.
Start by thawing the spinach.  I did this in the bowl I would later be mixing in, in the microwave for about two minutes.  Don't cover it, because you want all the water to evaporate off so it doesn't end up swimming in liquid.
While that's going, drain your can of artichokes and chop 'em up.  You can go very small or chunkier, however you like it.  Pull about one pepper out of the jar of roasted red peppers (or I suppose you could roast it yourself) and chop that up too.
Once the spinach is thawed, mix artichokes and red pepper in with it.  You could add some chopped onion or garlic right now too, if you felt like it.  I was tired of chopping, so I didn't.
Next, add as much mayonnaise as you need to get it to a dip-like consistency.  Remember, though, that the cheese (which we're about to add) will melt and get runny too, so don't overdo it on the mayonnaise.  You could also use cream cheese or sour cream here instead of mayo, and adjust your amounts accordingly.
Chop or grate up your cheese.  I used Havarti because it was in my fridge about to go bad, along with a little homemade cheese I had.  Parmesan is a popular choice, as is mozzarella or monterey jack.
Mix in some of the cheese with the mayo mixture-- I didn't measure, just do what feels right, or alternatively, use up all your cheese.  Save a large handful to sprinkle over the top.
Add in a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce and some garlic salt, or other spices.  You could do cayenne pepper, that'd give it a nice kick.  Mix well, then spread into a baking dish.  Sprinkle leftover cheese on top.

At this point, it looks something like this:

Before baking.

Pop it in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the cheese on top is fully melted.  Then turn on the broiler for about 5 minutes, watching to make sure it gets brown but not too brown.  Now it looks like this:

After baking.  YUM!

Let it cool (if you're patient; burn your mouth, if you're not), then dig in with tortilla chips, bread/toast slices, or a spoon.

...But at least it's warm.

I made a hat.  It kind of looks like a clown threw up on my head:

Slippers!

My feet were cold this morning, so I decided I needed to try my hand at making some fleece slippers.  So after picking up some fleece and fabric scissors from JoAnn Fabrics, I made these prototype models:

Sorry it's blurry.  But you get the idea.

The real ones will be yellow like this on the inside, with a blue/green splashy pattern on the outside.  Also, I think I will find some way to make the toes less square-- a friend commented that they resemble duck feet more than a little.

Watch this space for updates on the cuddly footwear!  I already have the pieces cut, now it's just assembly.  I might get to that tomorrow, or maybe Monday.

Successful cheese!

You might remember my earlier attempts to make cheese using powdered milk.  Although the finished product was cheese-like in texture and consistency, it had little to no flavor.  I hypothesized that this was due to there being no fat in the powdered milk, and thus in the finished cheese.

For today's experiment, I used a mix of 4 cups whole milk and 1.5 cups heavy cream (nothing fancy, just Target brand).  Basically the same process as before: heat to ~170 degrees, add lemon juice, continue heating to 190, then strain out the curds from the whey.  Instead of squeezing this time, I just let the cheese drain for a nice long time-- I actually went out for several hours and left it draining into a bowl on the counter.  When i came back, I had very rich, delicious, creamy ricotta cheese.  Absolutely divine.  I like soft cheeses anyway, and spreadable ones are even better.

Sorry I have no pictures; the cheese is white, my bowls are white, and I am lazy.  But I promise, it's wonderful.

Whee!

I just got A Countryside Anthology 1998, published by Countryside Magazine, in the mail.  I'm so excited to read this, you have no idea.  Just to give you an idea, here's the main sections:

Alternative energy
Gardening, orchards, crops & soils
Country kitchen
Beginning homesteading & finances
The beehive
The homestead dog
The poultry yard
The rabbit barn
The goat barn
The sheep shed
The cow barn
Livestock and health
The pig pen
Book reviews
The machine shed
The workshop
Miscellaneous tips/crafts/leisure
Homestead health
Emergency preparation
Country neighbors

and more!  Between this and Storey's Basic Country Skills, I should be all set.

Whee!

The Books of 2010

It's been a year since I started keeping track of the books I read.  Some were re-reads, some were new, and some I didn't finish.  Here's the list.  If you'd like me to write a review of one or more of these, let me know in the comments.

Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness

The past few days have really helped me believe in the goodness of humanity.  We had about a foot and a half of snow on Saturday-- much more at one time than we are accustomed to.  It was declared a snow emergency, everything was canceled, and some roads are still not cleared of snow.  The parking lot at my apartment is one of those places.  On Saturday, I stayed inside all day until about 7pm, when I decided to go out and see how badly my car was buried, and try to dig it out so I wouldn't have to Sunday morning before church.  I found a shovel near the entrance to my building, so I borrowed it.  I had been working for fifteen minutes or so, getting totally absorbed in the work, insulated by my hat, scarf, and hood, when suddenly a voice behind me says, "Digging out?"

I think I jumped and perhaps yelped in surprise.  It was the guy who (I think) lives above me and works maintenance on the building.  He offered to help me finish moving the GIANT drift of snow, and as he is taller and stronger than me, was finished much quicker than I would have been.  It was very kind of him, especially considering that he said he had been shoveling snow all day.

Sunday morning, having already dug out (or so I thought), I went to get the car out.  But I realized that digging out my own car was not enough; there was a single set of tire ruts to drive in, but getting into them was another matter.  To back out of my parking space enough to clear the huge piles of snow on either side, and then turn around enough to get going the right way, required more space than was there.  Even with four-wheel drive, I got stuck in the snowbank.  So I went to find the shovel and dig out again.  Who should be using it but the same guy from last night, having the same problem with his car that I was having?  He was trying to get out to buy some gas for the snowblower, so he wouldn't have to shovel all day again.  So I helped him dig out and pushed the car while he gunned the engine, and he finally got going.  Then he helped me dig out and get going the right way.

Later on Sunday, I went church again for the rehearsal for the evening service.  When I got there, I realized that I couldn't get into the parking lot my usual way, because the city snow plows had shed snow about two feet deep blocking the entrance.  So after I found the other entrance clear, I parked, got a shovel from the narthex, and started clearing the snow.  There was a lot of it, and it was taking a while.  I was taking a short breather, when I realized that there was a car behind me, coming out of the parking lot.  I turned, and it was an older couple in a big SUV-- with a plow on the front.  The man got out and said, "Can we help you with that?"  I said, "Yes, please!"  They proceeded to clear the entrance, saving me at least half an hour of hard work.  As they were leaving, I asked if they were members of the church.  They said no.  I asked for their name, so we (the church) could properly thank them, and they wouldn't give it!  Just said they were "two angels, passing by".  So sweet.

Then today, before work, I stopped by the apartment office because my heat hasn't been working.  They said they'd take a look at it while I was at work.  Then I went to Target to buy my own shovel-- figured it might come in handy.  Then after work, around 6pm, it did!  I was about to head out to do some errands, and I saw an older man trying to drive out of a snowy parking space he had backed into.  His tires were spinning and he was not moving.  I offered to dig him out with my (brand new) shovel.  Tried that a while, still wasn't moving.  Then I tried pushing.  Still nothing.  Then we switched; he pushed, and I drove.  Finally, I put his car in first gear and we were able to rock it out of the snow.  Hooray!

THEN, when I was home again after my errands, I found the notice on my door saying they had been in to look at the heater.  Turns out there's something wrong, but they're not sure exactly what it is, so in the meantime, they gave me a space heater.  As if that wasn't enough, a little while later the friendly maintenance man stopped by and made sure I was okay, and explained what the problems might be and how/when they might get fixed.  Again, very kind and thoughtful of him.

All of this to say, Minnesota is a great place to live if you want friendly neighbors and the opportunity to "pay it forward".  It's hard to say whether this is Christmas Cheer, or Holiday Spirit, or just the natural human urge to band together against the elements, but it's a pretty amazing feeling-- that you're a part of a network of people who don't even know each other, but support each other all the same.