COVID-Free at last! Knitting group, St Patrick's Day and pease pudding

First, you'll be happy to know that yesterday Gary tested negative, neighbor, too. So all's well there. He was so happy, rushing off to visit daughter and grandchildren. And Handsome Son and I continue to be Novids.

In other news, the knitting group yielded some great works today, from K's gnome to M's  temperature blankets and cowl in progress. I finally finished the Ministry socks and I can get on with my own. Still needing steaming and finishing, but cast off.

The fancy leather tab, boutique touch on M's temperature blanket came from K.

Finished socks with row one of my own socks started.

This morning on honor of St Patrick's Day, I wore my green cardi 

Fibonacci paper artwork in the background.

and made pease pudding with green split peas. It's an ancient dish, back to medieval times, maybe further. Pudding just means this kind of cooking and serving, not dessert.

This also honors my departed Irish grandmother from Tipperary, who ended up in North Yorkshire, where this is a trad food any old time. Also I remembered to soak the peas overnight, yay me. 

It's the feast day of St Gertrude, too, and I remember Mother Gertrude, who taught moral philosophy at my high school. Brilliant young nun in a community of nuns decades older than she, used to talk about the happiness of the religious life. The only one who ever did. 

The pease pudding I did a bit differently from past tries, frying onions first, before simmering them with the peas. I used za'atar to season the onions and, instead of beating in butter after the peas were cooked, fried the onions with a mix of oil and butter. Little pinch of spiced ground kosher salt.

Simmered till tender then blended

Served with little yellow potatoes and carrots. When the pudding is cold it can be sliced and fried, too.  There's enough for two more helpings. People who like bacon also serve this as a breakfast event with egg and bacon. 

 I clearly stated I did this food in honor of a departed family member and a family tradition. Don't yuck my yum! I've moderated comments which seemed to be doing this, probably thoughtlessly, nonetheless, hurtful. It's not a food for you? Move on by..

And here's a definite sign of spring.

The first sighting of a mourning dove on the high section of the fence,  which is the scene every year of mourning doves courting. I'll soon see a partner show up, then there'll be dancing and displaying to beat the band.

I hope they nest nearby. They're nice neighbors, and now there are no local cats out, they're safe, at least from cats. Not from red tails, but they're very wise about where they nest.

And speaking of nests, here's the latest winnowing from my nest

Happy day, everyone, nest wisely, but make your mark. Or your pudding, as the case may be.

Pease pudding and textile activism

 The pease pudding caper went like this

Cooked down and blended into a solid mass, sample seen in the saucer, butter and malt vinegar beaten in.

Then supper was slices of it fried in oil and butter, with an egg. The black specks on the egg are lovely flavored pan scrapings.

The tradition I grew up in, this goes with ham or bacon, black pudding, sausage, eggs for a special full breakfast or high tea. 

High tea is not to be confused with the dainty event of cucumber sandwiches and tiny cakes which is afternoon tea. For me, for this high tea,  an egg was enough. 

Speaking of working class food, yesterday's Textiles and Tea featured a young union activist, brilliant artist, now working in punch embroidery and walking the walk.

Her work is huge, some 72"by 42",  depicts the working class struggle and is stunning in color and concept. She's massively intelligent and perceptive and good humored though none the less passionate. 

Very timely to feature her in the current resurgence of the trade union movement and the union busting by such outfits as Star----- and Amaz-- not giving them any exposure here.

She's a very young, great talent, started with a degree from the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art  in Philadelphia, switched from painting to textiles, weaving then embroidery, in the teeth of opposition from her teachers to whom painting was the ultimate art.

Now she's back in Tennessee where she was born, and finding her feet there with already major exhibit credentials. I'm planning to follow her career. 

So that was yesterday, happy day all round. Today it's Desk Set st the library movie afternoon.

And the reading is Kate Atkinson

Her latest, where she's partly channeling Maisie Dobbs and I think might be setting up a post WW1 Jackson Brodie detective in CI Frobisher's partnership with former combat nurse then peacetime librarian Gwendolen Kelling.

Set in the seedy nightclub world after WW1, it's already gripping and I've only started it, with nightclub owner, notorious Nellie Coker and her various offspring,  I have to get back to it now, so

Happy day everyone, vote, read, support your good causes. One little light is powerful.

Photo AC 

 

White Rabbits! Yes we have bananas, And music

 Suddenly it's November, after a wonderful October, and here's the monthly artisan

Working at her rigid heddle loom. That bit sticking up is the rigid heddle. The other sort of heddle is the string heddle, one string attached to each warp thread to raise and lower, changing the shed, to enable the weft to pass alternately across the work. 

I have a rigid heddle loom, like that one and here's a wall hanging I made on mine,  threads courtesy of Kamala, thank you.

And there's always music. If you've never heard Cecilia Bartoli, the most wonderful coloratura singer ever, you might enjoy finding her on YouTube. She sings a lot of Vivaldi, right up to Puccini.

The second link shows you the score as she sings, and if you can read music, you marvel at the total mastery of the complex runs and figures. Or you can just listen and enjoy, too.

Today seems to be about saluting the arts,so here's a painting that you could write a book about, so brilliant and complex is the composition.

I'm waving my arms just looking at it, all the interlocking shapes and directions, the echoing curves everywhere, the color directing your eye, the virtuosic total of it, the impact. 

And now for something completely different. My honorary granddaughter recruited her colleagues to go bananas for Halloween

Which leads me to yesterday's Misfits box 

Except today I'm finally making pease pudding, which I've been meaning to make for months and kept forgetting to soak the split peas overnight. 

I finally remembered. Left dried peas, right soaked peas ready to cook. 

Happy day everyone, remember to do yesterday what you forgot for today, and be grateful if your mind is less of a ragbag than that of your humble blogger. 

Pease pudding returns

A passing comment online reminded me of pease pudding, ancient Yorkshire food. I remember it from childhood. Probably homemade, but you could buy it cooked, too. You remember the rhyme about pease pudding hot, pease pudding cold? This is the very stuff.

This recipe is for yellow split peas, or pease, but I think I've had it made with green split peas too. Goes with ham. Or anything you fancy.

Since I had all the ingredients in the house, the split peas, onion, carrot being the main players, I put the peas in to soak all day and cooked last night. Didn't have bay leaves, so I used the Indian equivalent, curry leaves. Butter, seasalt, vinegar, didn't have malt, used apple cider. Malt vinegar in the US is an exotic, found on the foreign, expensive, shelves.

So here's the doings, simmering till tender, about an hour and a half. Then the carrots, onions and curry leaves fished out, blended to almost smooth, add salt, pepper, vinegar, beat in a bit of butter. Done.

I had a slice for breakfast, heated and a fried egg resting on top. Nice plain relief from party foods. Some people like to use it like hummus, so I guess it's Yorkshire hummus. It's one of those foods that improve over days.

About curry leaves: they are flavorful, not hot at all, great in vegetarian cooking, nothing to do with what we call curry. The name is confusing. I just use them where I'd use bay leaf.

You can also grind split peas in your coffee grinder, to make flour. It's fun, though the noise alarms the neighbors.