Geppetto and Elias.

Rib our tummies. Now.

Spices

It has been forever since I have blogged. I blame facebook. I had all but run out of spices and so needed to place a big order. Here is my spicy bounty.

Elias in the lilies.

Lotuses and Lilies

On Friday I went with Dave to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

They were founded after the Civil War by a one armed veteran who planted acres and acres of water lilies and lotuses in ponds.

I really enjoyed the lotuses as you see them so rarely.

When the light hits them they practically glow. We got there early in the morning when the lotuses were completely open and there were still drops of dew collected in the giant leaves.

Columcille

A few years ago while I was in Saint Cloud I became rather interested in alternative building styles. I had helped some monks in the Mojave one summer in undergrad make a few hermitages and come form a family of builders so it's not a surprising interest.While I was researching I found this book.

Which had a reference to Columcille. A collection of megaliths north of Easton in PA. I of course added it to my list of places to visit.

This weekend my friends Timothy, Will, and I finally got there. The stone circle is behind this beautiful wrought iron gate. The entire collection was erected over the course of twenty years by a gay couple who were inspired by the celtic spirituality of Iona.

The two largest stones were "Thor's Gate" , which was roughly 15' by 20'.

And the "Guardian Stone" which was a solid twenty feet high at least.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning. I enjoy admiring the life's work of people devoted to making beauty for others.

Elias on the calvert cliffs.

Baked beans

Soak 2 1/2 cups of beans for 24 hours. I prefer a black or pinto bean. A good soup bean is great.

Change the water two or three times during that day.
Preheat oven to 350
Bring beans a boil in enough water to cover them plus two cups. I use a duth oven for all of this if you haven't got a Dutch oven use a very large casserole for the baking.

Add the beans and water to your
Oven proof covered dish.

Add all of the following
Two medium onions diced.
4T dried basil
3 T white vinegar
Quarter cup mollases or dark brown sugar
Quarter cup real maple syrup
2T olive oil
1/2 lb thick cut ham diced large
2T butter
1 tsp salt
1 T ground coriander

Bake for six hours checking every
Two hours to see if more water is needed and to stir.

This recipe is enough for six people easily and doubles with ease.

Ginger Beer

To make the "ginger bug" mix 2 teaspoons of grated ginger w/ 2 Tsp of sugar and 1/2 C of water. Add the same amount of ginger daily until the whole thing starts bubbling.

The top will look like this when it is ready.

Grate about six inches of ginger into 2 Q of water and bring to a boil for about fifteen minutes. Stir in 1 C of honey and 1 C white sugar.

Strain Out all the ginger

Add the juice from 2 lemons and 4 limes.

Allow to cool and then mix the STRAINED ginger bug with the warm sugar/ginger concentrate.

Add three more quarts of water and bottle in bail top bottles that can take pressure. Mine are stoneware.

Ferment for two weeks. Refrigerate after that.

Elias in an igloo

SnOMFG

So DC received two feet of snow this weekend. Here are some pictures of the food and frivolity. Elias loves romping in the snow. Yesterday I baked two loaves of Pascha with Dave and they turned out rather well.

Elias romped both by day and night.

Snowy Evening

Squirrellllll!!!!!

Sunny day

We are back

Heading to Pa with Fred.

Gurye Market at night

The traditional market street is open every day. A few blocks down there is the 5 day market which is much larger. You can buy anything you might want at the traditional market that is korean and unprocessed. There is a chicken seller, two butchers, a steamed dumpling restaurant, and a multitude of fish mongers and vegetable sellers. I enjoy walking through at night when only a few of the shops are open. The lighting is fun and you can watch the old ladies scurrying about finishing their days business.

The boys had a gay pride assembly line going

Drying tamarinds in the traditional market.

Candle making in gurye

Today we are melting crayons and cheap Buddhist candles to make cute little rainbow candles in soju cups.v

Winter Camp Craft Projects

Today we did a paper marbling project at winter camp in Gurye. It went well as soon as the kids got the hang of the process.

I don't want to play with the scarf. Rub my belly!

Elias and I at winter camp