January 7th, 2006
Some years back, I dated someone whose parents were Mennonites. They severed ties with me when he did, alas, for I loved them all, but it ended badly.
The best banana bread I ever had was stuff that LB made. I adored that woman, and miss her horribly. JB scanned the recipe and passed it along to me.
Shortly after TB and I broke up, I found the cookbook it came from in the bargain rack of a bookstore. It’s _Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking: A Mennonite Community Cookbook_.
Tonight, I had a compulsion to make pie. I’ve never made my own pie crust before, and sifted through a couple of cookbooks before remembering I had the queen of all Mennonite cookbooks.
Flour. Salt. Shortening. Water.
Apples. Cinnamon. Sugar. Milk.
It’s better than any pie I remember. Flaky and perfect.
LB, I miss you.
Posted in Cooking, Memery, Random, Yum! by: Helen
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January 6th, 2006
So, what with THAT faux pas over with, we indulged in therapy.
(Note: this is not a faux pie.)
And as I mentioned in a comment, god bless the Mennonites for the crust recipe, which really, honestly, for a first time out–is…
And since I’m all crazy mommified, here’s my pie-making hair.
Posted in Cooking, Life by: Helen
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January 23rd, 2005
Well, snow kept us from our appointed trip to Philly. First I did some major cleaning up on Friday, since I had taken the day off to catch up from the last several weeks of insanity–holidays, then ALA prep, then the conference itself… gah. I finally feel like myself again after several weeks of being all kinds of out of sorts. Started a sweater last night and so far, after about two dozen rows, I’ve only accidentally increased three stitches, dropped one, and had one stupid thing happen at the end of a row. The ribbing isn’t totally straight, but it’s the kind of yarn that forgives that sort of thing. But now that I’m into straight stockinette I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to knit the back of the thing and most of the front. Going to have to wait for the lessons to kick in before I’ll be able to do the neckline and the sleeves. The best part? It’s a hoodie!
Foodwise, we had stopped into the grocery store Saturday and they had whole chickens for 99c a pound, so I picked up a roaster amid the other, more ordinary trappings. While D. was doing other stuff, I managed to prepare a multi-course meal around said roaster, complete with wine. Then today, I cooked beef stroganoff for dinner and also made a round of salsa–the tomatoes aren’t so great, but they had hot pepper assortments–so this is habanero hot stuff! That will go well on baked potatoes tomorrow if D. doesn’t eat it all first. So while he was basking in all that food, I went back into the kitchen and made blueberry buckle. this stuff is so sugar laden it’s a horrible, horrible sin, but some weekends are made for indulging in luxury like this.
He keeps sitting down to unwind with his 12-string, and there’s something about the way his fingers dance over the strings that I find very soothing, even as my needles are clacking away in some contrapuntal rhythm. It never fails to astonish me how comfortable the two of us are together. And yet, even in the moments when things are most comfortable and relaxed and mellow, he can still stop me in amazement with a simple phrase.
Just.. wow.
It’s not the snow. It’s the snow days we love. Snow itself is bedlam incarnate–but once it’s fallen, and everyone is home safe, it’s peaceful.
Posted in !!!!!, Cooking, Family, Knitting by: Helen
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