Cruising through different blogs, I came across this link from the Smithsonian. Jump over to it – it’s a thought on creativity in difficult times, as well as how one can create without spending a lot of money, which is what many a hobby can be!
Tag: holiday
Dia de los Muertos, i
A small celebration of the the Day of the Dead, held in a local cemetery. Fun and poignant, people gather to remember loved ones, bring them presents, and build altars with the deceased’s favorite objects. Colorful marigolds brighten everything. Skulls and bones, face painting, dancing, costumes, ceremonies.
Ahead
The holidays are coming up, and with it the usual plans. Families. Presents. What to do during the two weeks off at the end of December.
I have some thoughts about what to do this weekend. The first one that crossed my mind this morning was whether or not I should go out and see the last of the lunar eclipse. The answer was no. I rolled over and slept another hour or two. I also need to write up a test for Monday’s class and print it out, grade some papers, and pack some things into the car to take in to work. This is the tedious stuff, but luckily it doesn’t take up hours!
And what else . . . ? Well, we got our shipment of candied citron, orange and lemon peel from King Arthur Flour in Maine yesterday. Time to get ready for baking fruit cakes tomorrow and figuring out . . . brandy or bourbon? Maybe some of each. This means assessing what is in the pantry and augmenting existing supplies. Josh wants dates and / or figs. I like nuts. We also have dried fruits in a number of varieties, and a goodly collection of spices. And a recipe we have agreed on. Did you know that it will take 3.5 hours to bake these cakes???
Today is cold and bright, with streaky clouds overhead presaging tomorrow’s rain. Certainly a good day to take a bit of a walk with the camera. It has crossed my mind to drive out to the beach, but the fact is, being home is nice – no people except Josh and me and Wicket (who needs a bath . . . maybe something else to consider). Still, I do want to get outside – too pretty to stay in! I can think of a few places to go where contact with people will be minimal. You see, being a teacher and an introvert, is really a conflict! Students need my focus, and I need my focus – hence the need to decelerate and regroup on the weekend.
And there is a new hat in the works, along with pulling together some brushes to photograph and describe for someone . . .
Mornings are exciting adventures in thinking about what lies ahead. It’s like Christmas when you are a kid – mystery and potential!
A Crostata of a Different Flavor
Sunset Magazine is filled with interesting things. Recipes of all sorts may be found, and the holiday issues are some of my favorites. The Thanksgiving edition had a particularly intriguing recipe, which I made for yesterday’s family get-together. You may find the original recipe here; what makes it particularly interesting is the fact it is made with an artisan flour derived from a different wheat than is in your average flour. It is made with
Emmer farro flour, made from whole-grain emmer wheat, gives the crostata a rustic texture and great flavor. Because it’s low in gluten, it needs to be mixed with all-purpose flour to hold the crust together
The flour is from Bluebird Grain Farms whose specialty is heirloom organic grains. While I did not use their flour, I think I am quite likely to try it in the near future. I’ve added a link to their site under the Farmers to Admire category.
Below is how I made the crostata. I think that you can use this recipe as a basis for any fresh, seasonal fruit – the frangipane is a wonderful flavor!
PASTRY
- 1 1/2 c. whole wheat white flour
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes (1 stick of butter, and 2 T more)
Use a food processor, as in the original recipe: pulse flours and salt to mix. Add butter and whirl 3 seconds. Drizzle in 1/3 cup ice water, pulsing until mixture comes together in a shaggy ball but still has bits of butter showing. Form into a disk, wrap airtight, and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.
FRANGIPANE
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 t. white sugar
- 1/3 cup blanched almonds, finely ground
- 1 large egg
- 1 T flour
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat together 6 T. of sugar with butter until light and fluffy. Mix in almonds (I used ground almond meal from Trader Joe’s), egg, flour, extracts, until smoothly blended. Set aside.
CRANBERRIES
- 3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (1 12-oz. package)
- 1/4 c. white sugar
- 1 T. water
Mix together cranberries, sugar and water. Set aside.
ASSEMBLING CROSTATA
Roll out dough on floured surface into a 14-inch circle. Rotate and flip pastry as you roll it out. Trim edges, and transfer to a round pizza pan or rectangular cookie sheet. Line either with a sheet of parchment paper. (I used a cookie sheet, only to find it was to big for my refrigerator, so I tilted it to fit, and had no problems with any berries escaping!)
Spread frangipane over inside of dough, leaving about a 3-inch border outside your circle of frangipane.
Place sugared cranberries over the frangipane mixture, pressing them in a bit to help keep the cranberries in place.
Fold the edges of the dough up and over the cranberries – do this gently! – and create pleats or folds as you go. Once you do this, pinch the pleats in place a bit to seal the dough. This will prevent leakage during baking.
Place crostata in refrigerator for about 30 minutes before baking. While you do this, preheat the oven to 375 F with the cooking rack in the middle. I used my oven on convection, but changed nothing as far as temperature or time.
Bake crostata for 45 minutes. I checked mine at 35 minutes, and then continued.
Cool on parchment paper and cookie sheet, then transfer crostata and parchment paper to cookie rack to finish cooling.
Serve at room temperature, or warmed in the oven. Great with vanilla ice cream!
Thoughts for the Season, i
Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet.
Let it not be a death but completeness.
Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.
Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest.
Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night.
Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence.
I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way.
—Rabindranath Tagore
Ink, Yarn & Beer 