Interruptus

 As you may no doubt be able to surmise by the above photo of an X-ray, I've had an accident.

I don't want anyone to think that I've lost my zeal for my new initiatives so quickly- much the opposite!- but I won't be able able to experiment, bake, dry dishes, slice bread, or otherwise use my right wrist for 4-6 weeks.
Who knew the wrist was the lynchpin for all these daily activities??
Seriously though, I hope to be writing, cooking, and running again after I change this plaster splint for a cast and survive a busy next couple of weeks...
Oh, and my first dozen cookies go to the person who can come up with the most entertaining or outlandish use for the device above! :-)

Injury and Insult

If I write a post that is not so happy, but just as spirited, will my audience be all right? Well, here goes: a little therapeutic exposition of my recent past.
Injury: About 6 weeks ago, I was heading out to a friend's boyfriend's band's performance. They were great! Happy, happy bluegrass! Ok, back to not-so-happy.
As per my usual, I was a little late heading out to the venue, and so, as I turned left out of my building's driveway, I broke into a quick trot to make up some time. Bad move, Indy.

The sidewalk is none too even in my neighborhood and I tripped so fast over a botchy job at even-ing out the sidewalk that I was sprawled out on elbows and knees before I even knew I'd fallen. Impact fell mostly on my knees and left elbow.  These two were taken about a week after the incident, after the initial swelling went down and the bruising got all pretty. Good thing I wasn't going to a ball that month, eh?
While it was painful to hold ice to it while listening to the bluegrass all that night, I'm glad I went. I may never get to lean with my elbows on the table again, but ... well, that would be hard. But at least they still bend!

And these two were taken a day or two later, for comparison.

There you have it, my ghoulish/ proud-of-injuries side. It's a sleeper, so don't blink or you might miss it!

And no, of course I didn't see a doctor about this. I'm terrified of navigating health care waters. But I did make a baby step in the right direction by asking a coworker about help understanding it! (Go, me!)

Part II of this post is about Insult. I live in an apartment which faces out onto an alley, which affords me the occasion of hearing many sorts of human interaction, almost all of them from people passing through on their way hither and thither in this metropolis we call Washington, DC. But this summer, and now this fall, I have been plagued by two pests that set up camp and persist for a time like wasps: a neighbor, and a construction crew. Listen:

That is what I heard, of a sudden, on Wednesday, November 2nd, at 630 AM. Notice the super-strong lights necessary, because it was not yet light out when they started drilling, beeping, and jack-hammering. This went on for most of a few weeks, and it made me want to get out of my apartment as fast as I could in the morning, which is my usual quiet-time, devoid of obnoxious lunkhead neighbors who yell during the evenings (to whom I have just composed a strongly-worded letter, as they are at it again!).

But there is happy ending to this post: the city construction is done and now we have a nice red-brick alley and the convenience store on the other end of the alley has nice parking spaces (that we of course can't use). And my elbow no longer show any traces of the fall; I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to lean on tables with my elbows again.
There: now it's out of my system. I hope to post a lot this week to catch up with all the other fun activities I've been up to (and keep my promise to the Food Blogger Cookie Swap peeps, as well!), so stay tuned!

Pub Short Ribs for Coziness

The first chill of fall (right before that freak snowstorm) came at the right time for me to make this...

 Pub Short Ribs

From a cookbook that I have used a few times, after having bought it in one of those it's-such-a-good-deal and the-photos-are-so-pretty moments: Braises and Stews, by Tori Ritchie.

The funny thing is, I couldn't for the life of me be sure whether they were beef short ribs or pork country ribs. I know, peg me with an A for Amateur, but I checked online for pictures of both, and I just couldn't tell. Pigs can get big, right? Anyway, I finally figured it out (I hadn't asked the butcher, just pointed; David Sedaris comes to mind) by realizing that the chapter where the recipe resides is all on beef. So, for those of you may also not have known, these are beef short ribs, and so tender that they are breaking apart into their own little bit-size pieces. Glorious.
I used a regular onion because I didn't want to spend my one red onion on a slow cooker recipe, and I used not a porter or stout but some random dark beer of moderate quality that I had had in my fridge for, like, a year. I don't drink the stuff. But it was marvelous what it did for the flavor of the sauce!
Highly recommended, book and recipe. Now that it's really getting chilly, DC, go to!

Bittman, Baking, and The Best Dishes

Today, I bring you three recipes tried and news of some fun to come.

The first recipe is for "Autumn Millet Bake," the sound of which is something quite atrocious, but turned out pretty well, even with my typical tweaking tendency. I first saw the recipe at Heidi's site here, and was inspired to try something with millet: how pioneer-like! how quaint! how self-reliant! (You see how I like to get carried away with evocation)

Here were my changes:

• scaled it down by half
• used cooked squash
• didn't have sage
• added roasted corn kernels
• didn't use nuts
• added different seasoning (a disadvantage of losing my notes on this one is I can't remember which)

I don't think I managed to fully cook the millet, and I'm not sure why, but it was quite crunchy, and quite tart from the (frozen-fresh) cranberries. I had it in the morning as a whole-foods pick-me-up at work and it worked out well, providing about 4 servings (so I gather they were estimating for hungrier people in the original recipe!).

It certainly looked pretty with the colors that pop, and satisfied the belly, being made with plain foods and low in fat. If and when I try this recipe again, I would stick closer to the original and maybe cook it longer so that the cranberries had more of a chance to stew.

This next one has only one picture, because it wasn't very photogenic and it wasn't very flavorful. Strike Two (bringing the count to 1 and 2) for the Traditional Scottish Recipes book I bought in Scotland.

Third and final recipe: Italian Apple Cake, from FrenchieTBD, which stands for The Best Dishes in the title of this post. As far as I can tell, it is a defunct blog, and I often find a broken link, but some industrious fishing gets me back to the actual site and recipes. I really liked the writer's style of posting a life anecdote with a dish, so I'm bummed that she hasn't posted in a year, but what can you do: life goes on- thank goodness!

I brought this one for coworkers, and boy, was it good! Moist, as the photo shows, good browning, rich and airy crumb, and with the intoxicating scent of rum mixed in with the fresh, local apples. Ah, life is good.

And now for the news to come: I am excited to participate in the Food Blogger's Cookie Swap 2011!

I haven't decided yet what type of cookie to bake for my compatriots in the Food Blogging World, but I want it to be good! And I'd rather make an assortment of 2 or 3 types to mitigate the risk of disappointing, but we have been instructed to only use one recipe... so I guess I'll look over my recipients' blogs to see what they like!
Try this cake. You won't be disappointed.

Highlights of Home in October

Highlights of October, after the Road Trip

Peach-Rhubarb Crisp with Walnuts and Pecans, riffed from this very good recipe, sharing counter space with the walnut fudge I picked up at Dakin Farm in Vermont, which has the byline, "What Vermont tastes like." Good, apparently.

Egg whites whipped a little too stiff for Orangette's Salted Peanut Butter Cookies recipe. I guess the hand mixer made things a little too easy...

These cookies were pretty different from others I've made: for one, salted peanut butter instead of unsalted, PLUS salt, PLUS milk chocolate. I typically trade that stuff out for dark chocolate, but for science's sake, I stuck with the spirit of these cookies.

For another thing, they were HUGE. Instead of a dainty teaspoon or a rounded tablespoon, Molly had us taking big 1/4-cup handfuls (I actually just used my hands and rolled it off like play-doh; it wasn't too sticky for that, thankfully).

And the third thing, as you saw above, was the separating of whites and yolks before combining. Now I've done that for cakes and things, but for a cookie? My efforts, while a little too enthusiastic, were not made in vain. As always, my touchy oven needed to be cut off in its cooking 25% earlier than the recipe said in order not to overcook the beauties, but then they came out, and I had way too many big, gorgeous cookies to hand to deal with!

So I took them into work, and two dozen disappeared in 2 days (I brought them in in two shifts, since we always have people working from home, and it seemed only fair to give everyone a chance). The other half dozen might have disappeared from the counter in that time...
Finally, returning to the savory world, I made this concoction- my first steamed (poached?) egg from Judith Jones' recipe for Steamed Egg(s) Nestled in a Bed of Greens. I really like her recipe-writing style. Something about it is so comforting, warm and reasonable. This felt great to eat, being so healthy and homey, and using up the last of summer produce I had stashed (tomato) plus the rare bit of fall bounty that had arrived (maitake mushroom, sprinkled on after this photo was taken). Happy Fall!

Last Bits of Juice from the Road Trip: Part 4

The last two legs of the journey. I drove from Vermont to upstate New York, spent the night, and continued on to DC the next day. It was a lot of driving but I certainly found sights to amuse, distract, and make me think over the course of the two days.

 On my last morning in Vermont, which was Sue and Nigel's second-to-last morning there, they did a morning run to the Harvest Market in Stowe. Their website may not be much, but their shop is gorgeous and chock full of gourmet delicacies, not to mention fresh baked goods. And we mean FRESH- we ended up waiting for about 30 minutes for garlic sticks that were coming straight out of the oven. They were amazing.

 Once I sadly departed from friends, I toodled through Vermont and came upon a Civil War days fair-- didn't think they had those north of the Mason-Dixon line? Well, neither did I. But apparently, country is as country does, and part of country is remembering heritage. Here I heard a lecture about troop badges, and spied some lovely baked goods, as well as women in antebellum costumes. Nevermind the rain, we're tough Yankees!

Dakin Farm is the site of ... my weakening resolve to not buy everything kitschy and delicious-looking in sight. There was lots of good stuff there, and I bought cheese and fudge, both very good!

But really, the stop at Vergennes, VT is where I hit the big time. The couple thrift shops I was going to investigate turned out to be closed, but then this popped up, as well as a different thrift shop, where I found a couple books. The Daily Chocolate has really amazing flavor combinations- I picked up one type of bark named "Nibby" (milk chocolate with a generous helping of coconut and sesame seeds), and another named "Moroccan" (dark chocolate with pecans, raisins, and Garam Masala spices). They were free and easy with their samples, had a reasonable code of conduct on responsible sourcing, and ... so I also bought a little container of maple roasted cacao nibs. Obviously I was totally sold on their creative approach and wonderful flavors! So do try them out if you're in the area...

These next few photos illustrate the totally captivating sense of whimsy I felt while trawling through the picturesque countryside. Perhaps there is a hipster site dedicated to haystacks dressed up as creatures, but I'm completely content to post these as my only sample. Two are haystack creations of a dog and cat (and thank goodness it was a lonely stretch of road, because I had to make a few U-turns), and one is a trailer painted like a cow. Perfect Road Trip scenery, really.

This deserved a mention, even though it was closed (basically a miniature golf course, but with a tailor-made theme ... to please the locals?)

After passing through scenic park land, I came upon this, the Pocono Bazaar, a sort of swap meet writ large for locals and curiosity hunters. I found it a strange, somewhat surreal experience, because I've always heard of the Poconos as a sort of midcentury luxury getaway destination. Here I was confronted with empty lots, creaking structures, and bathrooms serviced by attendants hoping for tips, like Mom and I saw in southern France.

Civil War Memorabilia...

My last stop before the long journey home: Oregon Dairy! I had stopped for gas at a spot that looked like it had a restaurant or two, but turned out to only be Chili's and a bar. So I persevered in the interests of health and foodie-discovery, and came here, unfortunately too late for their dining room. Apparently they close their restaurant at 2 PM on Sundays, and my Pocono visit had made me arrive later than the usual lunchtime.

I found more than enough to satisfy me, even without the restaurant: the supermarket had a great bakery section: see baked oatmeal above- delicious and entirely unknown to me before this. I also tried shoo-fly pie, something I'd heard of as a legend but was fairly disappointed by-- figgy consistency and lacking flavor. OD also had a bulk section, where I found some grains and spices I'd been looking for at a good price. Plus, mini-marshmallows! My resolve, and my hunger, were too weak, and strong, respectively, at this point to resist the cuteness. I had the equivalent of a slider sandwich, then proceeded to the ... Milk House (an ice creamery, truth be told).

I may not have appreciated the sizing titles, but the teens serving me were country-considerate (nothing like the Montreal uni students!), the ice cream was great, it was shelter from the rain, and I wasn't sitting in my driver's seat for a bit-- deliverance! Thus ended my awesome Solo Road Trip adventure. Full of good food, good fun, and dear family, both related and in spirit.

Vermont and The Road Trip: Part Two

So there I was, halfway to Vermont.

 I began to see many landscapes like this one above, composed of single barns, silos, and happy cows.

The weather was accommodating, with only a slip of sprinkles and general overcastness making it easy to leave the windows cracked.

 Then I arrived at Smuggler's Notch (what a name) to find Sue and Nigel, all ready to go with gorgeous snacks (a small meal!) and ideas for outings to see waterfalls before the sun went down. Don't mind if I do! :-)

 As you can see, it was really hard on the eyes.

 We even saw fresh evidence of beavers! This fallen tree was neatly chewed through, a few feet away from a serious beaver dam (difficult to get a good shot though-- you'll have to go visit).

 We finished with seeing a covered bridge. Why does New England have (so many) covered bridges? Sue and Nigel expected me to know since it was Americana, but I come from the complete opposite coast, where such things were quite rare: Strike 1 from me. So we asked the waiter at our restaurant that first night, who, while quite entertaining, turned out to be from New Jersey. Strike 2 from Vaughn.

But don't think we were completely without contribution ladies and gentlemen-- I gave it a college try. My theory was triangulated from the facts: the large amounts of snow, the timeframe these bridges were built (before steel was commonplace) and the remoteness of the location. It was probable that a sloped roof was necessary to slough off the snow so that it didn't weigh down and destroy the wooden bridge, making the way impassable all season.

Vaughn seemed to support my theory.

 Again, hard on the eyes, waking up in the Green Mountain State.

 This after the sun warmed itself up and got out of bed.

And this is one of those shots I made Nigel pull over for-- Sue told me to do it!

It was just the perfect time for fall foliage/ leaf-peeping/ whatever you want to call it, and I am so glad I was able to make the time to visit such grand friends and experience such beautiful vistas!

Near Jeffersonville (I think), the eminently competent driving team stopped at this 'Old Mill' so I could snap another couple photos. What caught my eye was the river flow- so full!- after a night's steady pounding of rain. You know, just enough to make cozying up with a good book inside a resort just the thing.
The Mill was also the site of a museum on a local celebrity: Wilson A. 'Snowflake' Bentley who proved that no two snowflakes were alike under the microscope. I didn't go in, but Sue and Nigel had been fascinated when they saw the exhibit. I was more interested in the interesting effect of the cross-hatched wooden outer wall- never seen anything like it!

Finally, there was a foodie find here, ladies and gentlemen, that I hope none of you miss if you are ever in the neighborhood (meaning Vermont). It is an unassuming, prepossessing place called The Family Table. We all indulged in appetizers, which meant that unfortunately 2/3 of my entree was toted home in a take-home container. But hold the phone, Irene, what was the appetizer?

"Fried calamari tossed with hot peppers and black olives, garlic, lemon, basil, white wine with a side of marinara" 

I haven't tried making it at home yet (still experimenting with those Scottish delicacies), and I must say calamari is pretty intimidating, but... it's definitely earned its place on The List. It had that combination of spice and sourness, crisp and crunch, that rendered one incapable of stopping shoveling it into one's mouth.

Next up: Day Trip to Montreal.