November 18, 2013

Five


That is the number of ingredients needed to make these biscuits. It's intriguing how good something so simple can taste, and very handy when one doesn't have a lot of time.

Biscuits

2 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
not quite 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup (8 oz) milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Cut in the butter, rubbing it into the dry ingredients with fingers.
Make a shallow hole in the center of the dry mixture with your fist. Add milk slowly to make a soft dough. The dough should be soft and pliable, but not sticky.
Knead dough lightly for a few seconds. Shape the dough into partially flattened balls about 3 inches across.
Place biscuits on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

November 10, 2013

The "army" at work









I belong to a small parish, with only about thirty families and a small church. It is logical that being so tiny necessitates a way to generate income, unless we want to be sitting in a church without air conditioning every Sunday, never a good thing in Florida. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the slavic kitchen. There is a tiny sales counter in our tiny hall, adjoining our luckily not-so-tiny kitchen. Run by members of the parish, it sells all sorts of slavic goodies, predominantly kolach, kielbasa, halushki, halupki, and pierogi. My, how spell-check despises those names.

The best part is that it is all homemade, by none other than us parishioners. And oh, what fun it is! As the pierogi are the most frequently in need of replenishing, we have dubbed ourselves "the pierogi army". The last time we got together to make a batch of the sauerkraut, I decided to take some photographs.

I started out with the mixer full of flour, because the machine is bigger than I am. The bowl has a diameter of about two feet. I haven't been involved in the dough making process yet, but I have been a "catcher", for lack of a better word. After the dough has been mixed, kneaded, and formed into flattened balls, it is put through a different machine that rolls it out. I wasn't able to take any pictures of that because I was busy catching the dough as it came out. Next the circles get cut out and put onto trays, which are taken into the hall. There they each get a ball of whatever filling we use for that batch, and are pinched closed.

The pinching is my favourite part. And it's funny how everyone does it a little differently; after awhile you start to recognise who did what, even after they're cooked. Mine turn out with ruffled edges, another lady does marks on hers like a pie crust, and one older woman twists her edges into a braid-like design. We have yet to discover how she does it.

The pinched pierogi are taken back into the kitchen to be boiled and drowned in butter. You'll notice there are no pictures of that either. There wasn't enough room over there. But I do have one of the finished product, strategically cropped so you can't see the broken one on top.

***

I must apologise for my long absence. To be honest, I don't even have a very good excuse. Probably the most likely cause is that I am not the best at managing my time, and I've discovered that being a working student is no walk in the park. I'm back now though; that's all that counts, right?

September 27, 2013

Apparently I am not very good at introspection.

Vintage photo that I found... somewhere.

I find myself suffering from a lack of material. There is the almost-completed gift that I have yet to even attempt to photograph. I did make lemon poppy-seed muffins yesterday which turned out delicious and looking lovely, though they came from a box mix. But still, I don't think I could squeeze a post out of that with no pictures.

Therefore, I decided to try writing about myself a bit. Undoubtedly it is not something I am good at doing, but I think I've been tight-lipped so far. And I've noticed that the blogs that I enjoy reading the most are personality driven. I read them because yes, I enjoy the content and seeing the interesting things people do or make, but more importantly because the writers themselves are interesting. Unfortunately, I don't usually consider myself to be a very interesting person, though I do try. I had to write a two minute self-introductory speech in the tenth grade; it was the hardest assignment of the class. I am eccentric at heart, but too shy to be interesting.

And yet here I am, dear reader. So to begin, I live in a relatively small town in Florida, where it is too hot and there are palm trees everywhere. The common opinion seems to dictate that palm trees are tropical and exude exoticism; I think they look scruffy. But I have become very attached to living near the ocean. I was born in Florida, so I learned to swim when I was a year old. Then I forgot over the winter and had to learn it again when I was two.

I would like to travel in the future, because you hear about all these interesting places and I'd rather see them in person than in a travel guide. So far I haven't been out of my time zone. It seems travel requires money. My first destination is Ireland; I've had an inexplicable fascination with it as long as I can remember.

For now, I play the piano and the violin, read a lot, write (or procrastinate about writing), crochet, and take photographs of the crafty and culinary things I make. Right now I am listening to "Wind and Rain" by Julie Fowlis, one of several song versions of an Irish/Scottish legend. Such is my life.

Also, I am a nanny, and I make souffles.

September 6, 2013

Flowers from Florida






Because life has been slow here lately. Actually, I'm not altogether certain that that's a negative statement. Just plain routine is nice sometimes. Truth be told, I haven't gotten much crocheting done. However, I have branched out into souffle making, which I think is a very enjoyable activity. Of course that is assuming you remember to compensate for time when using ovens that do not get as hot as they claim to do, otherwise unwittingly premature door-opening can cause deflation. But whether you end up with a beautiful and delicious cheese souffle or something resembling a chocolate omelet, the preparation is still fun.

But, to get back to the flowers, Madame Millefeuilles is giving away a delightful rabbit named Mademoiselle Flower Meadow. So if you like handmade items, adorable animals, or vintage lace, I suggest you pay her a visit.

Isn't she charming? Image copyright Stephanie of Millefeuilles.

August 29, 2013

Note to self: figure out what I've done with list of notes to self.

This has been one of those "listen up miss, you have to remember this" sort of talking to oneself weeks. As in, let's hope I remember that I'm out of milk before I need it for my tea, and don't make couscous again please, it tastes like sand. Today is the feast of St John the Baptist, and I did in fact remember not to use plates. Miracles do happen. Speaking of which, it is surprisingly challenging to butter toast in a bowl.

Of course, the whole point of carrying a little notebook around in which to write down reminders, dates, and miscellany of varying level of importance is so one can use it to look up those reminders, dates, and various miscellany. This becomes difficult if one cannot find said little notebook.

One last note to self: cactus flower photographs are a sufficiently random selection to accompany miscellaneous posts.


I know. I ramble.

August 21, 2013

It needs buttons.


I have finally gotten back on the Yarn Along train again, with this hat. The yarn is the same rose coloured softness that I bought months ago and am just now getting around to using. The pattern is version two of Mrs Micawbers Two Roads Hat. The end result is very satisfying; I love the wavy band, and it has a charming 1920's look to it when worn.


This photograph, being unedited, is closer to the actual shade. (I couldn't help myself on the last one. I went to correct the exposure and suddenly thought "I wonder what would happen if..." Voila.)


But it is not finished yet. Dear me, no. It needs buttons, you see, to cover up the line of joinings in the band. Luckily I happen to have some that match well, otherwise goodness knows how long it would take me to get some.


Oh yes, as for the reading... I am still ever so slowly finishing Bleak House. I am not used to taking so long to read a book, but it really is very long. Also, I am getting together the books I need for this class that I decided to audit. Because it looks like fun, and a brilliant excuse to read the Sherlock Holmes stories again.

***

As I was looking at the preview for this post, it struck me that the hat is nearly the same shade as the post title text. And also that perhaps I should change the colour for link text. Is it too hard to read do you think?

August 16, 2013

Mary Poppins lives... almost.

Sadly, the whole cleaning by finger-snap doesn't seem to work for me, nor can I jump into chalk pictures yet. (And I spent ages as a child trying to figure how to do that one.) But anyway, I have a new job working as a nanny for a one-year-old boy. He's adorable and very well-behaved, but oh the energy! And I have fast learned to dress in clothing impervious to mystery dirt.

Now, to get down to business:


Fingerless gloves. So sophisticated, I think. I made them from this pattern from Sense & Sensibility patterns, a lovely store that always makes me wish I could sew. Luckily it was a nice, simple pattern since I cut it quite close on the timing. However, I did have to adjust the hook size -to five sizes smaller- to fit my little hands. I didn't have time to compensate with the thread size too, so it was somewhat harder to manage with a hook that small. They were made specifically for this event, a formal banquet affair. It was fun; I love to dress up, and there was chocolate cake.


...
Photographs this time were taken by a friend of mine, Cassy Blue.

August 2, 2013

La belle dame sans internet







Prepare for an incredibly short post.

I've just spent the week in Gainesville at an event held at the University of Florida campus, thus the hiatus. I got back today and was too tired to edit these photos after I shot them, so hopefully they look fine. I went to a workshop on Thursday, and we did canning in the afternoon. We made hot pepper jelly and blueberry jam. I have yet to taste them, but don't they look delicious?

I plan to be back soon; I definitely have some material for next Yarn Along Wednesday.

Tschüs!

July 16, 2013

On days like today...



 





 We only have three seasons here in Florida: hot, hotter-and-wet, and mostly-warm-but-occasionally-chilly. Though I do like rain, I never realized before how difficult it is to photograph. Post-rainstorm pictures are simple enough, but I tried and tried to get a decent photo of it actually raining. That last one is the only one I could get that is close to what I wanted, and between the naturally-tilted tree and the slanted rain, it looks crooked.

But on days like today I prefer to get the dull but necessary tasks out of the way, because they are perfect for sitting down with Dickens and a cup of tea. Or trying to put all the patterns you want to use in some sort of chronological order. Or playing this song on the piano.

I hope you are all having a pleasant week.