Botanical Blooms for a Winter's Day

This blog is mainly to catalog a project I have been working on, but is rather long since there is a bit of a rabbit trail that led to its inception.

Several months ago, I was reading Elisabeth Elliot's A Path Through Suffering and was really struck most by these botanical quotes from Lilias Trotter she used to drive the book. Who is Lilias Trotter you might wonder as I did? I found out she was an gifted artist and Christian missionary in Algeria.

I checked out several of Lilias Trotter's books through Inter library loan and the library even bought Parables of the Cross for me! Some of the books have her artwork of botanical watercolors with quotes that are exquisite. I often use her books in my daily devotion because they elevate the soul. For me, its like listening to opera while cleaning.

Ms. Trotter's work inspired me to pick back up calligraphy and flower painting that I had learned years ago. I was on the hunt to find some other botanical art for reference. By chance, as I was looking for a new yearly planner, I saw a planner LeMoyne's Botanical Watercolours at Half Price Books.

I was intrigued by Jacques le Moyne de Morgues after reading a sonnet by him included in the calendar. I will print it at the end because it falls in the category of soul elevating material. He was a Huguenot (French Calvinist) that lived during the 16th century. Wyatt has Huguenot ancestors, so that was a nice discovery. In addition to these beautiful botanical watercolours, he also traveled to the New World to catalog life there. I haven't had a lot of luck locating other books documenting his work, so I am quite happy with this serendipitous find.

Since I purchased a laminator from Amazon for a wonderful price- $17, I decided to use it to preserve the prints. Zoraida needed some new visual material for her bedroom wall, so I thought to hang the prints there for the meantime. I mounted the prints on a gold cardboard to make them sturdier. I also wrote the plant's name and Latin name in calligraphy on the back to be used for reference art cards once removed from the wall.

A large number of the water colours are flowers and fruit with a few herbs and vegetables. Zoraida likes the insects included on several of them since she is into buzzing bees lately. She loves to lay and look at them, so I hope they will be some inspiration to her.

Thought for the Day: Sonnet

Discordant harmony and balance movement,
Winter and Summer, Autumn, reborn Spring,
Renewing her sweet scents and colouring,
Join in the praise of God's unfailing judgment.

This loving God gives every argument
To look for zeal from each created thing,
To bless His Name eternally and sing
All He has made in earth and firmament.

Above all He made man with head held high
To watch each morning as new light arrives
And decorates earth's breast with varied flowers.

There is no fruit, or grain, or grub, or fly
That does not preach one God, the least flower gives
Pledge of a Spring with everlasting colours.

Jacques Le Moyne, 1585

Honey for a Child's Heart: A Recommendation

I just finished reading Honey for a Child's Heart (The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life) by Gladys Hunt. It is a quick read, about 4 hours, and very encouraging. I believe I first heard of the book from Nancy Wilson's blog Femina . She had recommended it for a book on books and also linked to Ms. Hunts current blog by the same name Honey for a Child's Heart. I link to her post on Christmas books since that is timely.

I finished this book after two evenings of reading on the couch with Wyatt. It was nice to dialogue on our own experiences of books from our childhood. We had quite different experiences with books. This book brought back many fond memories of countless hours at the library and reading.

Honey for a Child's Heart advocates books as being a fundamental part of the family. She recounts how reading books aloud was a daily part of her family. I was quite impressed that her family read the Bible every meal (3 times a day) and additionally read other books aloud each evening. This is a traditional that was passed down through generations of her family.

She includes a chapter on "Making Decisions About Books". She emphasizes that there are so many good books at each maturity level that you don't want to rush your child into reading higher level books just to see how advanced she is in reading. She also discusses building a child's library and the influence that owned books have over ones just borrowed from the library. Seattle has exceptional second hand book stores and thrift stores, so we have been fortunate to build up our own library. One of our favorite family activities is going to the bookstore.

Ms. Hunt includes a large reading list at the end of book that is helpful for choosing good books. I had fun going through it and reminiscing on some of my childhood favorites. Wyatt uses a reading list that has been very helpful while hunting at Half Price Books. I recently brought home several books I found at Goodwill by B.B. Warfield including one missing from his reading list. Wyatt called me the Proverbs 31 woman for the rest of the day, I don't think anything else would have made him happier!

Encouragement from the book: The choice will sometimes be between a clean house with television as morning baby-sitter or a partially clean house, no telephone conversations, and a half-hour of sharing a picture book.

Things I am in Love with Right Now

Fried Capers

Wyatt and I had a date a while back at the Barking Frog restaurant. The meal was somewhat memorable, a pork belly appetizer, short rib entree, something chocolate for dessert. The thing I remember most was the bread served with this sun dried tomato jam and fried capers.

I had never thought to fry capers, but have a large Costco jar in my fridge that I only used to sprinkle on fish. I am slightly obsessed with frying capers whenever I want a salty fix now. The jar is nearly empty, yikes! I also have a Costco jar of sun dried tomatoes that I whip into a quick jam. The capers get crispy and hollow when you pan fry them for about 10 minutes in a little olive oil and intensify in saltiness. Slice up a baguette, spread some goat cheese or soft cheese on it and top with jam and capers, delicious!

Poached Eggs

A perfectly poached egg on top of crispy fried seasoned potatoes equals perfection. This has become a regular lunch for me because its ridiculously easy to make and insanely yummy. The key to the poached egg is cook it 3 minutes. This ensures a creamy yoke that will break and flow over the crispy potatoes. The key to getting crispy potatoes is to slice them thinly and make sure the pan and oil are hot before adding the slices. Also do not overcrowd the pan and do them in batches if necessary. This is a fundamental for any type of pan frying to achieve browning and crispiness.

Cookbooks

I get on a kick and check out a ton of certain genre of books from the library. This week is cookbooks. I follow food writer Michael Ruhlman's blog who is great for fundamentals. His book Ratio lays out basic formulas for all cooking like doughs, sauces, charcuterie, etc. I like to experiment, so having the ratios in my head makes sure things don't go way wrong.
I love Tony Bourdain and recently watch a clip of him dining at the French Laundry. This inspired me to check out the cookbook. Frankly, I will try only a few of these recipes because truffles and caviar are not in my budget. Thomas Keller is a genius and I learned a lot about basic cooking from reading through it. He has a very interesting and easy way to make powder out of tons of ingredients I am eager to try. I am excited to check out the El Bulli cookbook I have on hold.

Bulk Spice

A frugal and flavorful tip is to buy your spices from the bulk section found in many stores organic section. Prepacked spices are severely overpriced. Most of the bulk spices are organic to boot! Since you can buy as little as you need, your spices will always be fresh too. You can fill a spice a 3 oz spice jar for almost any spice for pennies to 50 cents. This November Fred Meyer has all bulk spices on sale for 30% off, so stock up! I also buy bulk tea in this section, the quality is amazing and incredibly affordable.


Stevia

When my dear friend Tilly was in town for a visit, we had a lovely tea tasting at an Asian shop near Pike's Market. I tried a lavender and stevia blend that was divine. I couldn't believe the sweet flavor that came from just a few of these leaves. I typically drink my coffee and tea black, but adding a few of these leaves to tea balances the bitterness in the tea leaves. I also have been experimenting by adding lavender, rose, and other dried flowers to make my own tea blends. Stevia is getting more buzz as a natural sweetener; I highly recommend trying it.

Don't Throw out those Broccoli Stems!

I love broccoli. Our family eats it at least once a week. Broccoli is cheap, often on sale for 70 cents a pound. Broccoli is a nutritious "super food". It is high in vitamin C, K, A, and fiber. Broccoli is a member of the Clean 15, a group of fruits and vegetables that contain little to no pesticide residue. I skip the organic broccoli due to this fact.

The dirty dozen on the other hand, I do try to buy organic, especially berries. Luckily Trader Joes sells most of the organic variety of the dirty dozen at very reasonable prices. Trader Joes organic frozen berries are great for mixing into yogurt (preferably full fat plain or honey Greek yogurt!) and pancakes.

I digress, back to the broccoli stems. Lynne Rossetto Kasper, of American Splendid Table on NPR, featured broccoli stems on a segment of a recent podcast. I knew broccoli stems were edible, but usually tossed them. She mentioned a method for quick pickling them and I was sold. I am crazy about pickled things. I would go to Korean restaurants if they only presented the 20 or so tiny pickled dishes and left out the bbq kalbi and bimibap.

Besides quick pickling the stems, you can also use them in stir fry or a simple salad. I have not bought broccoli crowns since I made this discovery and even look forward to the stems more then the crown now! Here is the easy recipe for a quick pickle ready to eat within a day.

2 or 3 broccoli stems

1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher salt

1 medium size garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon apple cider, white wine or whatever vinegar you have

1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Peel the broccoli stems and cut crosswise into thin coins.

2. Place in a jar (I use a glass clamp lid jar) with the salt. Shake and store overnight. The salt will draw out excess water from the stalk.

2. Drain the water. Add the garlic, vinegar, and olive oil and toss together. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight and then enjoy!

Thought for the day: I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli. George Bush, U.S. President (1990)

Detox and Kumquats

A few years ago, a handful of people at my church were doing the master cleanse. I really wanted to try it, but Wyatt talked me out of it. The master cleanse is a detox diet where you only drink a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for roughly two weeks. I can't remember why it was so compelling, but I have had it in the back of my mind for a while.

Several months ago I started receiving this design magazine Ready Made in the mail out of the blue. I have really enjoyed its innovative design ideas and ways to recycle items in the home. An article a few months back featured a detox tea with lemon, agave, cayenne pepper, and ginger. At Last, I thought, I can give this a try. I would never replace honey with agave as the norm, but it is a perfect natural organic sweetener for tea.

The mag recommended drinking this tea every morning before eating anything else for an hour. I like to drink it as a pick me up in the afternoon, since coffee past noon tends to make me a little crazy. The tea varies every time for me since I like to experiment and don't like to measure. I add Earl Grey or English breakfast tea if I want a caffeine boost.

Typically, this would be the recipe...

4 cups water
1/2 lemon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbs agave
1 thumb size piece of ginger

1. Boil water
2. Grate ginger with a microplane into french press.
3. Add lemon, cayenne, agave to ginger.
4. Pour boiling water over and stir. Let steep for 4 minutes and enjoy!

Continuing the tea theme, I had the most intoxicating tea at Facing East Taiwanese restaurant. Kumquats are one of my favorite fruits. You must try them if you haven't. The beauty of them is that they intensely sour and sweet with a bonus of eating the skin. No waste, you know how I love being green. I have tried to replicate this tea at home, but haven't nailed down a recipe.

So far I crushed the kumquats, mixed in agave, much like the recipe above. It hasn't had the potency of the restaurant thus far. A lovely Taiwanese lady at the park gave me a great tip for making the tea (she was also a Facing East fan). She said I should create a slurry like soup of the kumquat to extract the flavor for the tea. Kumquats aren't in season, so I haven't tested it to perfection. Stay tuned....

I must also mention PORK BELLY "burgers". I beg you, if you are in the Seattle area, and haven't tried these, you must. Its sheer genius. Facing East was my first time to experience distinctively Taiwanese food and wow! They were a fraction of the cost of my pork belly appetizer at the Barking Frog and ten times more delicious. Go, now...well, wait till they reopen after the renovation because they needed more space due to their ridiculous popularity.

Thought for the Day: I got nasty habits; I take tea at three. ~Mick Jagger

Dutch Babies

I first had a dutch baby at the Original Pancake House a few blocks north of my apartment in the gold coast of Chicago nearly 6 years ago. It was reminiscent of poffertjes (tiny dutch pancakes) I had growing up at the Tulip Festivals in Pella, but in a super-sized form.

The baby looked very impressive with the sides puffed up two inches and crusty yet the inside was light and airy. I imagined it was very challenging recipe like a souffle, but have now learned its actually easier than making pancakes! I have started a tradition of making these babies for birthdays, but actually make them more often...like lunch today : ) (See recipe below)

Speaking of dutch babies, Zoraida is actually semi authentic. Wyatt's side of the family has some roots in the land of giant windmills. Oh wait, that's the Zoraida's name origin. We got dressed up in authentic Dutch costumes sans wooden shoes and tip toed through the tulips sans ukulele.

Zoraida absolutely loved poffertjes. She had one in her mouth and one in each hand at all times. I think she would like to wear the dutch baby as a hat and eat pieces off of it as she roams.



I have tried 3 different dutch baby recipes that vary the number of eggs and a few of the ingredient amounts. This one is my favorite that I modified from the magazine Everyday Food.


Dutch Baby

3 tablespoons butter
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
1/2 lemon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425° and heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over moderate heat. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in skillet.
   
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, flour and milk until smooth and foamy. Pour batter into skillet and then bake in oven for 20 minutes until pancake is puffed.
3. Dress baby immediately with butter, lemon, and powder sugar.