Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Pantries

A pantry is to a foodie what a walk in closet is to a fashionista.

There is a tiny space at the SE corner of the plan which is designated as a 1/2 bath/laundry/pantry area.  Fortunately, there are 12 foot ceilings.

So the question is what are you going to store in your pantry?  To my mind there are ¨Butlers´ Pantries¨ for storing crockery, glassware, etc., and usually equipped with a sink.  And then there are pantries to store foodstuffs, drygoods, canned products, bulk items such as pastas and grains, and veggies like onions and potatoes.

I´ll have to keep in mind the amount of weight the walls will have to support.  And temperature range, humidity and light exposure for food.







I like the baskets for bulky items.



I don´t think there will be room for enclosed cabinets, but I would love them.

Source: google.com via Art on Pinterest


Source: google.com
via M on Pinterest

Love these ladders!!



Source: kirtsy.com via Meaghan on Pinterest


Source: google.com via Roy on Pinterest





via flickr
 
 
For more on a butler´s pantry project, check out Willow Decor.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Noite de San Xoan


The festival of Saint John or Noite de San Xoan is quite an event in Galicia in general and in La Coruña in particular.

The night of St. John, the night of the 23rd to 24th of June , coinciding with the summer solstice, is celebrated in a wide variety of ancient festivals and ritual practices in many places in Spain , especially around the purifying fires, the fires of St. John. This is a celebration dating from before the arrival of Christianity in which different cultures celebrate this solar event.
The date of June 24 corresponds, according to tradition, the date of the birth of Saint John [1] .
More on Midsummer festivals in Spain:
Midsummer tradition is also especially strong in northern areas of the country, such as Galicia, where one can easily identify the rituals that reveal the pagan beliefs widespread throughout Europe in Neolithic times. These beliefs pivot on three basic ideas: the importance of medicinal plants, especially in relation to health, youth and beauty; the protective character of fire to ward men off evil spirits and witches and, finally, the purifying, miraculous effects of water. What follows is a summary of Galician traditions surrounding St. John's festival in relation to these three elements.
  • Medicinal plants: Traditionally, women collect several species of plants on St. John's eve. These vary from area to area, but mostly include fennel, different species of fern (e.g. dryopteris filix-mas), rue (herb of grace, ruta graveolens), rosemary, dog rose (rosa canina), lemon verbena, St John's wort (hypericum perforatum), mallows (malva sylvestris), laburnum, foxgloves (digitalis purpurea) and elder flowers. In some areas, these are arranged in a bunch and hung in doorways. In most others, they are dipped in a vessel with water and left outside exposed to the dew of night until the following morning (o dia de San Xoan -St. John's day), when people use the resulting flower water to wash their faces.
  • Water: Tradition holds it that the medicinal plants mentioned above are most effective when dipped in water collected from seven different springs. Also, on some beaches, it was traditional for women who wanted to be fertile to bathe in the sea until they were washed by 9 waves.
  • Fire: Bonfires are lit, usually around midnight both on beaches and inland, so much so that one usually cannot tell the smoke from the mist common in this Atlantic corner of Iberia at this time of the year, and it smells burnt everywhere. Occasionally, a dummy is placed at the top, representing a witch or the devil. Young and all gather around them and feast mostly on pilchards, potatoes boiled in their skins and maize bread. When it is relatively safe to jump over the bonfire, it is done three times (although it could also be nine or any odd number) for good luck at the cry of “meigas fora” (witches off!).It is also common to drink Queimada, a beverage resulting from setting alight Galician grappa mixed with sugar, coffee beans and pieces of fruit, which is prepared while chanting an incantation against evil spirits.
Bonfires are built all over the beach (or wherever´s handy), roasted sardines are eaten and then people jump through/over the fires (at least) 3 times in a symbolic ¨rebirth¨.  In A Coruña there is also a parade, a falla or large figure that is burned, fireworks go off and some brave souls take the traditional purifying dip in the sea in the early hours.




These pictures were taken last year when V´s brother showed us around.  The whole roasted sardines smell very fishy, but are actually quite tasty served on thick pieces of Galician bread. Huge numbers of people head down to the beaches of Riazor and Orzan and cart unbelievable amounts of flammable material for their personal bonfires.  There was a prominent fire brigade presence.  Unfortunately, accidents do happen, as you might expect.  Last year some poor guy burned to death after tripping, and at least one person drowned the following morning.







I find it interesting that this clearly pagan celebration is still so popular and powerful.

Do you suppose s´mores might catch on?

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Ortigueira Celtic Festival 2012



The 2012 Ortgueira Celtic Music Festival schedule is out.

Thursday 12 July

Proxecto Runas 2012
Avelaíña (Galicia)
Rastrexos project (Galicia)
Alén de Ancos (Galicia)
Harmonica Creams (Japan)

Friday 13 July
Bagad Glazik Kemper (Brittany)
Stolen Notes (Andalucía)
Escola de gaitas de Ortigueira
Blazin' fiddles (Scotland)
Jamie Smith's Mabon (Wales)

Saturday 14 July
Oban Pipe band (Scotland)
Crema de gaita (Galicia)
The Rua Macmillan band (Scotland)
Electric ceili (Ireland)

After some looking around on YouTube, I found some examples:


Avelaíña



Bagad Glazik Kemper


Blazin´ Fiddles


Electric Céili

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Cream Puffs

Cream puffs have been declared the Wisconsin State dessert. I remember them figuring prominantly at the State Fair as something to get all over you while dust from the midway blew everywhere and you tried to stay upwind from the stock barns. They started serving puffs in 1924. Of course, the State Fair puffs are dinner plate sized. They sell over 300,000 each year now.



Choux pastry is cooked rather than kept cool during the mixing process. It´s quite a handy thing to know how to make because it´s the basis for éclairs, profiteroles, and can be used for savory dishes as well, and I don´t find it difficult to make.  There are several recipes that come up, but I used Delia. Her baking instructions differ from most in that she raises the temperature for the last part of baking, rather than lowering it. Delia´s recipe made 12 puffs, of which I froze 8 for a week before defrosting and filling. They were fine.



The whipped cream with sugar and vanilla filling is called ¨Chantilly Cream¨.  I don´t add as much sugar as most recipes call for, I find the cream itself rich enough, and I don´t generally use the dusting of powdered sugar either. I did drizzle some dark chocolate ganache over a batch for a barbecue last weekend (they were a big hit) but forgot to get pictures before they all disappeared. A really good summer dessert that could feature fresh or macerated fruit.  Consult the link to Delia for photos to go along with the instructions.
1. Choux pastry is the lightest, crispiest, airiest pastry, which can be used to make profiteroles, éclairs or savoury gougères. It puffs up in the oven until it is eventually set by the heat. The airiness, in fact, is caused because choux has a high water content, which is turned into steam during baking and this forces the pastry shell outwards and gives it volume. What is really good about choux is that it doesn't call for any particular pastry skills, like lightness of hand or careful rolling. I never pipe choux because I am convinced that a freshly baked golden profiterole looks so much crustier if it is spooned, rather than piped, on to a baking sheet.

2. To make about 30 choux buns you will need 2½ oz (60 g) of strong plain flour, which, with its higher gluten content, gives crisper results than ordinary soft, plain flour. As you are going to need to 'shoot' it quickly into the water and melted butter, fold a sheet of silicon paper (baking parchment) to make a crease and then open it up again. Sift the flour straight on to the square of paper and add a teaspoon of caster sugar if you are making sweet choux, otherwise use a seasoning of salt and pepper.

3. Next, put 5 fl oz (150 ml) of cold water in a medium-sized saucepan together with 2 oz (50 g) of butter, cut into small pieces, then place the saucepan over a moderate heat and stir with a wooden spoon. As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture comes up to the boil, turn off the heat immediately, as too much boiling will evaporate some of the water.

4. Then tip the flour in – all in one go – with one hand, while you beat the mixture vigorously with the other. You can do this with a wooden spoon, though an electric hand whisk will save you lots of energy.

5. Beat until you have a smooth ball of paste that has left the sides of the saucepan clean – this will probably take less than a minute.

6. Next beat 2 large eggs well, then beat them into the mixture – a little at a time, mixing each addition in thoroughly before adding the next.

7. Beat until you have a smooth glossy paste. At this stage, lightly grease a baking sheet then hold it under cold running water for a few seconds, and tap it sharply to get rid of excess moisture. This will help create a steamier atmosphere, which, in turn, helps the pastry to rise.

8. To make the choux buns, place teaspoons of the mixture on the baking sheet, leaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) between them, then bake on a high shelf in a pre-heated oven – gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C) – for 10 minutes. After that, increase the heat to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C), and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until the buns are crisp, light and a rich golden colour.

9. Pierce the side of each one to let out the steam, then cool them on a wire rack.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Augas de Galicia answers


Permission received



Onward and upward.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Garden Design Continued

On a homesteading forum I read, someone asked about organizing a small acreage - namely 1 (4047 m2).  One of the suggestions referred to The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan, which I confess I haven´t read.  She includes 2 layouts - one for 1/10th of an acre and the other for 1/2 an acre.



Basically, the difference seems to be adding pasture.  Now we have approximately a half an acre, but I alternate between despair that it will never be enough and feeling overwhelmed that we´ll never be able to keep up with it.

Does her plan seem optimistic?

My latest version is this (take with a grain of salt because I have no way of knowing what scale it´s in):

There´s a potager for the salad, herbs, medicinals, flowers and dye plants - raised beds.  The orchard will be nuts and fruits (almonds, peaches, pears, apples, cherries, lemons, limes).  I may be being optimistic, but with climate change well underway I figure why not.  Where can I find a pecan tree over here?  There is an existing motley hedge along the southern border which needs beefing up to be productive, stock proof, or an effective screen. 

The southeast corner of the barn seemed a logical place to plan a future greenhouse (hopefully out of recycled windows) for starting seeds, extending the growing season and protecting tender stuff in the depths of winter.  Row crops would be potatoes, roots, brassicas, corn, tomatoes, peppers, etc.  There´s only 2 of us, so I´m not sure how much space to allocate there.  Compost and chickens are well away from the house, and chooks will probably be put into tractors on grass.


We´d like to rebuild the oven and add a barbecue space there for entertaining.  Some flower beds, cold frames and wood storage will be placed close to the house/patio.  I´d like to have quite a few water tanks for rainwater also.

Longer term there´s a good sized patch there that could have goats or pigs, I suppose, but would require additional housing/fencing.  I certainly don´t want to be either mowing or cultivating it.  Turkeys and ducks will be added as time/budget permits.  If I can arrange to lease pasture in the future, I´d love a few sheep. 


I ran across this smallholding called ¨Hangman´s Cottage¨ .


How fabulous is that?  They have a self-sufficiency blog, which I haven´t investigated yet.  I was just so delighted by that shot of their home acre. 

Still to be accommodated - grapes!  Maybe along the eastern wall bordering the neighbors in the potager.   I think I´ll have hops on arbors.  I must have wisteria and climbing roses somewhere - a pergola over the barbecue? 

Now, where to put the laundry line?


Sunday, June 3, 2012

No Bed of Rosas

Kind of a trying week. On one hand, I finally got around to putting on the tennis shoes and started walking since I found a route in the neighborhood not plagued by traffic. It´s an odd little park just up the road from the huge Almudena cemetary and it takes me about 40 minutes all told to get there and get home. Next week I´ll start doing 2 circuits. I go early, to avoid the baking heat that´s been plaguing us all week.


I have no idea why they built this park in this particular spot, since there are no close residential buildings, mostly just a highway entrance ramp, a recycling/trash disposal place, a gas station, and some kind of cell tower.


But what it does have is roses - lots and lots of incredible roses. None of them labelled (of course) and I took these just past their peak, so by now they´re mangey and will be for a while before blooming again. But spectacular in their first flush.



The two toned blush roses were especially beautiful.



But the big drifts were certainly impressive.



And a couple from the terrace. We´re having another plaque of aphids and subsequently ants, along with the couple of plants that seem to be downey mildew magnets. Trying a diluted dishsoap spray for the aphids which isn´t discouraging them as much as I´d hoped. Going to try a diluted milk spray for the mildew.



And on the other hand, I spent several mornings trying to move funds around which meant opening and closing accounts and signing rafts of paperwork. And frankly, it feels exactly like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

And to top it off, my mother took a nasty fall and spent several days in the hospital, though thankfully she´s back home now. The theory is that she fainted in her kitchen, hitting her head quite hard - her pain medication seems the likely culprit. We´re all relieved it wasn´t worse, but the measures that can be taken to try to make sure it doesn´t happen again are extremely limited.

But I suppose for situations that have no solutions, all we can do is take time to stop and smell the flowers.