Friday, July 17, 2009
The yogurt's in the fridge and the sourdough starter has taken off. So much for my fear that both wouldn't work. The yogurt smells really yummy and the sourdough starter does too. I may actually make sourdough bread this weekend, then!
The yogurt is supposed to refrigerate for 6 hours before using, so I will leave it in the fridge during the day, then make a larger batch overnight (and eat the remainder.) Yay for yogurt*!
*I don't usually eat a lot of yogurt. But last week, I went to Kroger and they had Stoneyfield Farm organic yogurt (vanilla flavored) for 59 cents each since they were close to expiring. I bought enough to last the week, and boy, was it yummy with in-season blueberries. That got me to thinking about my impending blackberries (and also the plethora of cucumbers) and I decided I might as well try to make it again. I took it as a good sign when I went to Kroger to buy organic milk for my yogurt experiment and found it for $1.00/gallon because it was 'expiring**' that day. Score!
**Organic milk really does last forever. I had a half gallon that was still quite tasty three weeks past the expiration date. This is a good thing for me since I don't drink a lot of milk.Labels: fermentation, my kitchen smells really interesting right now, sourdough, yogurt
Jennifer 5:59 AM
(2) considerations
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Just like magic--after I'd posted that the yogurt wasn't solidifying, I went into the kitchen to do the dishes and noticed that it looked a little different. More solid. Which it was. It's not quite ready to refrigerate yet, but it's getting there. I'd say definitely by morning. Yay!Labels: yogurt
Jennifer 9:19 PM
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I just recorded the sounds of my various fiddles and played Shortenin' Bread on all of them (except Ebay fiddle #2, which is not quite in tune yet.) I will have to upload it here via my netbook (dial-up would take far too long) because you wouldn't believe the difference in tones. Even if you just count the regular fiddles and leave out the travel fiddle, they sound so different!
The blue fiddle sounds terrible, in my opinion. The squeakiness is not all me after all. The Anton Breton fiddle sounds pretty good. Ebay fiddle #1 sounds really nice, but is a totally different tone than the Anton Breton fiddle, which is lower in tone. My travel fiddle sounds like itself, and it's getting smoother.Labels: fiddler's summer, fiddling around
Jennifer 8:32 PM
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Picked a handful of blackberries this evening. So far so good--no birds have bothered them yet.
And then, I decided to use up some of the green beans I have in my fridge. I intended to make Grey's recipe, but I ended up making up my own, because I also had a long skinny eggplant (from someone else; I didn't plant any this year, although I might next year if I can find out the variety I ate tonight because it was yummy) to use up too.
So I sauteed some garlic on olive oil, added some of the the purple podded green beans (they turn green when cooked, of course), cut up eggplant, beet leaves, and swiss chard with a 'sauce' of olive oil, a dash of orange juice, and soy sauce. It was fabulous. I will definitely have to do it again. It would have tasted good with new potatoes, too.
Right now, I'm off to freeze the rest of the blueberries, and then I'm going to go play my fiddle for a bit before I do some more dishes. Or maybe I'll do the dishes first. We'll see.
I also started the sourdough starter that I got in the mail yesterday. Hopefully by tomorrow morning I'll see some life.
The yogurt, however, isn't solidifying at all, but it smells great. I'm hoping it will do something overnight. Anything longer than tomorrow after work and I'll probably say it was too hot in my kitchen and abandon it for a lost cause to try again later when it's cooler. (The directions say the initial culturing should be 24-48 hours. It's been almost 24 hours right now, so I'm still well within the limits.)Labels: blackberry season, blueberries, eating from the garden, eggplant, green beans, yogurt
Jennifer 7:08 PM
(2) considerations
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tonight was a garden night (I pick every other day; it seems to work out fine that way), and I was both hoping it would rain and hoping it would not. I hoped it would so I could get some stuff done inside, and hoped it wouldn't so I could go and pick what needed to be picked.
It didn't rain, so I picked. Six cucumbers, 1 1/2lbs. of beans, one zucchini, and two yellow crookneck squash. I have three pounds of beans in my fridge right now; I really have to use that up. I may separate the varieties and make the purple podded pole beans first, and then maybe even shell the others, since they are rather large. But we'll see what I decide.
I also picked two blackberries; not that many, but there are quite a few almost ripe, so maybe tomorrow. I won't do an every-other-day thing for the blackberries, obviously.
I also received the sourdough starter and yogurt cultures in the mail today. I'm not sure the sourdough starter will survive, but we'll see. It may. I didn't have time to feed it tonight, though, so it will have to wait until tomorrow and maybe work overnight. The yogurt, however, is culturing on my countertop; I am hoping it's not too warm inside for it, although it shouldn't be. If all goes well, either I'll have actual yogurt by morning or I'll have to wait a bit longer. Then, evidently, I can do it by the quart, which is nice.
Otherwise, I got some dishes done, played my fiddle for a bit, started to tune the new fiddle (I'm doing it in stages this time, so it's tuned a note lower on all strings at the moment.) My mountain fiddle/pochette actually held the tuning from last night, so I'm hoping that means the wood is starting to settle down a bit. I have noticed that the tone is a bit smoother. I think it's maturing. ;)
Ebay fiddle #1 holds its tune just fine, which is really nice. I'm hoping Ebay fiddle #2 will do so as well.
This weekend is another busy weekend--it's Burlington again on Sunday, and then there's the Taste of St. George on Saturday evening. There's also an auction in Georgetown on Saturday. I'm just doing tea for the Taste, so that's not time-intensive, and I will probably go to the auction and not plan to stay. If I pump up my bike tires, I could ride my bike. Hmm.
Jennifer 9:58 PM
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
I received Ebay fiddle #2 today in the mail--they tried to deliver it yesterday, but it had to be signed for and of course I wasn't home. (Mom kindly picked it up for me at the PO.)
I haven't gotten it tuned properly yet; the bridge was not on when I opened the case and I must have put the bridge on wrong when I tried, because it snapped off and scared me to death. This has happened before; I should know better. There's a trick to it, after all. I will try again tomorrow evening and do it right this time.
But while I was trying to tune it, I managed to get the G string tuned and wow. This fiddle has some major volume! It's much lower in tone than my other fiddle. (I have decided that the mountain fiddle/pochette is a tenor. Not sure about Ebay fiddle #1.) It's very smooth sounding so far. It's also a bit heavier (but not by much) than Ebay fiddle #1.
I enjoy playing my little mountain fiddle quite a bit. It's not too soft to hear myself play over the sound of the CD, nor is it too loud to wake up the neighbors. Ebay fiddle #2 is loud enough to wake up the neighbors. That should be fun. :)
Tonight I figured out how to play Amazing Grace. I had semi-figured it out before, but I got it this time.
If I try for a tune a week, I'll know 52 tunes by the end of one year. Not bad!Labels: fiddler's summer, fiddling around, learning to play a musical instrument, violin
Jennifer 9:41 PM
(0) considerations
 The moment I've been waiting for. :) Labels: blackberries, blackberry season, first blackberry
Jennifer 8:53 PM
(2) considerations
Monday, July 13, 2009
The oatmeal bread turned out wonderfully. I'm definitely going to make it again. Dad thought that it would make good scones, and I agree; it definitely would. I'll have to try that too. You could also add a bit of cinnamon to the recipe to make it more breakfast-like (for scones), too. Yum! Definitely a great recipe.
I picked nine cucumbers and 1lb. of beans tonight. That means I have a pound and a half of beans in the fridge. Thanks to everyone on Livejournal, I now have lots of cucumber recipes to go through, too. I also picked one zucchini. I really have to start eating those.
I've decided that I'm going to let the zucchini in the kitchen garden grow to freeze for zucchini bread; I'm really getting plenty in the big garden, so I think that will be fine.
I really have to tie up the tomatoes again; they are starting to sprawl and that's not a good thing. And the squash--I swear--grew three feet in two days. It may actually stretch from end to end of the garden if it keeps this up; it doesn't have but five feet left to go before it's in the grass. Yikes!
And I'm going to try again with a sourdough starter (from Fermented Treasures, Grey) as well as a yogurt starter since I will have blackberries to eat Quite Soon. I ordered Viili and Greek yogurt because I just had to try the Greek and the Viili sounded good, too. I also ordered a Camaldoli sourdough starter. Hopefully I will do better this time in keeping them alive.
And I'm still fiddling. I have Shortenin' Bread down pat, and I'm still working on Simple Gifts. I know the tune, and I can play it, but when I try to record myself, I always mess up. Which just figures!Labels: bread, cucumbers, garden report, sourdough, the squash is taking over, zucchini
Jennifer 8:59 PM
(2) considerations
Sunday, July 12, 2009
I'm baking my friend Grey's oatmeal bread today. It smells awfully good, so I hope it turns out as it should. Right now, it's rising in my music room where it's nice and warm. (Although the whole house is rather warm right now.)
Other things on my list of things to do today include laundry, cleaning up in the kitchen, writing Whippoorwill, and practicing my fiddle.
I forgot to add yesterday that I picked 4 1/2 lbs. of cucumbers (yes, we're on pounds now since there are so many) and two yellow squash. I am also up to 1/2lb. of beans picked, which is enough to eat. The purple podded pole beans (say that five times fast!) are very dainty and pretty beans. I definitely should plant them again.
Jennifer 2:30 PM
(2) considerations
My sister Bekah is now married! The wedding was lovely, if exhausting. I got home earlier than my parents, but it was still 1:30am, and it didn't help that right after I crawled into bed, someone decided to start letting off firecrackers in the neighborhood. I'm not sure when I actually got to sleep, but I'm awake now--barely.
Bekah looked fabulous in her dress; we bridesmaids looked nice in ours as well. The weather cooperated in the end, after some pouring rain while we were unloading the cars, and no one tripped on their way down the aisle.
I don't have any pictures, but I'm sure I can get one from Bekah eventually and post it here.Labels: wedding
Jennifer 11:08 AM
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Friday, July 10, 2009
Introducing my current obsession:
 My fiddle. This is an ebay fiddle, one of two I've won. (I haven't received the other one yet.) I am very impressed with this one's tone. No scratchiness on the G string; plenty of sound. It doesn't have a label, so I don't really know how old it is, but it's obviously been played quite a bit. Compared to my original blue $20 fiddle, this one's voice runs circles around it. It's very smooth. This one's a keeper.
 My mountain fiddle/travel fiddle/pochette
This is a newly made fiddle. I've been lusting after a travel fiddle (I could conceivably take one to work and practice on my lunch break once I am good enough to go out into quasi-public) and I really liked the looks of Wiplstix travel fiddles, but the price is a bit high right now.
Evidently (I've been doing some research) back in the day these were fairly common. Fiddlers would travel from house to house to teach people the newest dances and such, and they frequently carried 'pocket fiddles' (hence the name pochette) with them. They aren't as loud as a regular fiddle, but they're great to have for portability's sake. (When I get really good enough, I could even bring it to Burlington to play while I'm sitting there waiting to sell something.) Anyway, since I love the idea of small playable instruments, I went in search of a nice fiddle like the old-style pochettes. Most of the ones I found were way too expensive. Blaine Horlocker of Smokey Mountain Dulcimer Works makes them, though, and that's where I got mine.
(They even had walkingstick fiddles back then! How cool is that?)
The tone of my fiddle is very mellow, a little nasaly, but not harsh at all. Definitely good for playing old-time music, which was my intention all along. It's very easy to hold and play (the bow didn't come with it; I actually have used both a regular 4/4 bow and this one, which is actually a bow from an old ukelin.) I'm sure the tone will even out as I play it, because it's new, after all. But it's really fun to play so far. Definitely a keeper.
 My parlor guitar.
And here, last but not least, my parlor guitar. After doing some research, I've discovered that this is probably a Sears & Roebuck guitar from the early 20th century and it's not what the true collectors would call a great guitar. But it also has a nice tone, and it's really cute and I like it, so that's what counts. This is a keeper, too.Labels: fiddle, guitar, introductions, musical instruments
Jennifer 10:34 AM
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I had pancakes and yummy fresh farmer's market eggs for breakfast this morning. Yum! (Also, hot tea, of course.)
And I got up at 6:30am. I didn't need to get up at 6:30am, but someone (whose name is also an herb) ran across me at 6:00am and woke me up. (And considering he's quite a hefty boy now, it kind of hurt.) And the sun was starting to rise by then, so I couldn't go back to sleep. I imagine I'm going to be really tired this evening. Oh well.
I got my electric bill for June in the mail the other day, and the few times I had my air conditioner on in June made my bill go up a whopping $15. I haven't had it on since. So far, my house has been pretty comfortable, even when it's hot outside.
Right now, I have a surplus of four zucchini and two yellow squash in my kitchen. That's lunch today, probably lunch tomorrow (and by then, I'll be picking more) and lunch and supper on Sunday. Maybe that way I can put a small dent in them.
My nasturtiums are really blooming nicely out front, and they have a surprising range of colors from really pale orange to bicolored orange/cream to neon orange. I think I will plant them again along the border next year since they are short and look quite nice. The ones in the pot aren't nearly as pretty as they were last year, but they are blooming too. Speaking of blooms, both the wintergreen and the lingonberries bloomed. They have tiny bell-like flowers; very pretty! I'm not sure if the flowers were fertilized, though; it's too early to tell.
I'm updating Plethora this morning, too, after being away from it for far too long.
Jennifer 8:30 AM
(0) considerations
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