Pennsic Recipes 3. hot pot soup morphs into garbage soup the next day

Re: recipe - hot pot soup morphs into garbage soup the next day - first week

The next day I brought the soup up to a boil and skimmed off a couple of bowls
worth of ick.

Sorry Brad and Mendee, I didn't not realize you wanted to eat blood scum.

Dropped in good sized chunk of ginger. I chopped up all the cooked leftover
meat from the night before and and threw that in pot as well.

Once it started boiling I threw in a bag of dried reconstituted shitake
mushrooms cut into quarters, as well as the remaining napa cabbage and the king
mushroom leftover from the day before. Then a bag of sliced korean style rice
cakes. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I had sliced king mushroom as part of the
hot pot. I julienned them for the garbage soup.

Once it started boiling again. I dropped in tablespoons full of the meat
mixture. They were supposed to be meat balls but I didn't add bread crumbs for
a better binder. Nor did I mix it well enough with my hands, so the meat could
be it's own binder.

I took Mendee's 1lb of ground meat? Beef?
mixed it with eggs I can't remember how many, whatever I had leftover.
minced onions
minced scallions
and soy sauce and rice wine and pepper.
There may have been other stuff in the meatballs.

I washed and cleaned 2lbs of yu choy.

I let everything simmer to be happy.

Just before serving I dumped in the baby yu choy. Stirred it around and brought
it to a boil again. This way the greens stayed nice and crisp.

Garbage soup done. I also set out some condiments so people could season to
taste. I used oyster sauce and sesame oil for mine.

Fortunately, most of it got eaten, so we did not end up with the scary pot of
eternal soup. :) Although I suppose if you keep taking out more than half the
pot at a sitting and adding more fresh ingredients and keep it simmering, you
could manage not to kill your friends and family... I'm NOT trying it! :)

Anyway, this is my way of making sure I got plenty of greens and eating healthy
at Pennsic. Not to mention discovering that more and more people were expected
for dinner that night or at least were going to be showing up late at night
and might want a midnight snack before unpacking! How does one stretch 1 lb of
meat to feed about 10 people? Keep adding aromatic fillers to the meat. MORE
ONIONS! Throw more mushrooms in the soup! It's chewy, people will think they
are eating meat! Throw in more noodle type food!

Pennsic Recipes 2. hot pot/shabu-shabu/chinese style fondue

Re: recipe - hot pot/shabu-shabu/chinese style fondue - first week

The most important thing is to start with a good broth.

Usually for Chinese style you start with a pork broth. I either use leg or
clavicle bones, whatever is in the store.

At Pennsic, all I could get was beef bones. So I used cut up beef soup bones as
well as boxed beef broth, since I really really didn't want to be simmering hot
broth all day in 90+ degree heat and stupid humidity. I did however cook the
broth for at least 2 hours. And I went with a low salt low fat broth! You add
enough salt with the dipping sauces.

Japanese style uses soup from bonito flakes.

I've also had it with chicken broth. It's really up to you. Vegetable broth
also good. The most important thing is that you start with a tasty broth and
not just salty water.

You can also use chicken or beef boullion. I don't bc I think it's more salt
and chemical flavorings than actual meat. If I start from scratch I still don't
add salt to broth.

I added daikon radish to simmer with the soup after I skimmed it and just let it
simmer.

Once you are ready to serve.

Fill about 1/2 shallow pot with the broth and chunks of radish. They sell shabu
pots both propane and electric. I borrowed Jackie's table top coleman grill.
Not the most ideal setup, but you settle for what you can get at Pennsic and
consider yourself lucky to have something works even half as well! Bring this
back to a simmer. And don't forget that the pot you are using has a lid! hee!

While waiting for it to simmer, lay out the meat and veggies and condiments.

2lbs pork
2lbs beef
2lbs chicken
1 pack of assorted fish balls

1 pack of fish balls stuffed with pork (these seem like the favorites) stuffed
eyeballs anyone? :) Fujian style fish balls.

2lbs of WASHED and picked over baby Shanghai bok choy. The stuff Pao used in
his steamed dish was regular bok choy. You can tell the difference bc his stems
were snow white and the leaves a dark green. Shanghai bok choy has light green
steams and the leaves are a paler green than the regular bok choy. It's a
matter of personal preference and market availability.

2lbs of WASHED and picked over baby yu choy. It looks a little like Chinese
broccoli, but more leafy. I think it's some kind of mustard green.

Napa cabbage in about 2inch wide strips. Basically, I peeled off enough leaves
so I would use up the remainder for dumplings latter in the week.

Usually, my dad will have sushi quality fish filets cut into about 2 inches
square and raw shrimp (usually the $5.99 or $6.99/lb size in Chinatown, but
probably way more expensive now). Since I didn't want to poison my guests. I
left out the seafood. You can also do clams and other shellfish. Again I
recommend this in a more controlled setting, unless you are throwing them in
live.

Bean vermicelli soaked in cold water or rice cakes. These are usually tossed in
at the end to soak up the yummy broth. Or some other type of noodle. I didn't
do this since I was counting on using the soup the next day for dinner. And
even though I didn't refridgerate the soup. I did start simmering it most of
the following day once the temperature started rising to kill off any bacteria.

Condiments.
1 raw egg per guest.
Chinese BBQ Sa tea sauce - Chinese style fish sauce.
soy sauce
sesame oil
chili sauce - I used a Vietnamese garlic and chili sauce this time.
hoisin
oyster
vinegar etc etc
Basically i was using this as a chance for people to taste and experiment with
various Asian style condiments.
Large shabu shabu restaurants offer a condiment bar with even more choices. And
some will offer shredded ginger, scallions, and minced garlic. But that's just
too much work for me! :) As well as chopped chili peppers.

The style of hot pot I grew up with.
You crack and scramble an egg into your bowl and then season it with condiments.
I prefer a couple of spoonfuls of Satea sauce, some soy and sesame oil all
scrambled together. The raw egg in the dipping sauce cooks when the hot meat is
placed in the bowl, cooling the meat/veggie enough to eat. Mendee added lots of
chili sauce to hers, which people seemed to enjoy a lot. I'm not that brave :)

I give people the option of egg or no egg depending on how they feel about
salmonella. Basically eat at your own risk.

Usually people sit around the pot of boiling water and dip in their food item
until cooked to taste and then eat it. It's a fun, social form of meals.

At the end, soup is ladled into your personal bowl of remaining dipping sauce
mixed around and drunk like soup.

FYI, this is usually a winter meal, bc you are sitting in front of a heat
source.

But I thought it would make a fun Pennsic meal. And the soup at the end is
really yummy from all the meat and other stuff that's been cooked with it.

Safety precautions.

NO horsing around the hot pot. It might tip over and pour boiling water on
people. I won't do this when there are small children around, unless their
parents serve hot pot at home, so they know the rules.

Make sure you dip the tips of your chopsticks into the simmering pot for a few
seconds after handling raw meat with them!!! Especially important at Pennsic!

Basically make sure all your guests are old enough so that if they do themselves
injury through stupidity you can scream and upbraid them as you haul them off to
the chirugeon/emergency room.

Pennsic Recipes 1. Pork and chive dumplings

pork and chive dumplings (first week)


dough
3 cups flour
enough water to form dough. I usually start with a cup and work up from there.
You are looking for a dry elastic dough, bagel/pretzel/pizza dough consistency.
after kneading until the dough is smooth, let it rest.

filling
1lb pork
1lb shrimp (I omitted this at pennsic)
2 handsful of dried shitake mushrooms (my hands are small)
a pack of dried 5 spice tofu (I omitted this at pennsic)
a pack of bean vermicelli (I omitted this at Pennsic)
1 pack of dried shrimp (a handful?)
1 bunch of garlic chives
1 bunch of scallions
1 chunk of ginger about 1 to 2 inches square
napa cabbage 2 stacks of leaves about 2 inches high. this depends on how big
your cabbage head is.

soy sauce
shaoxing wine
sesame oil
pepper

1. Before you start the dough. Soak the dried shrimp, bean vermicelli and
mushrooms in hot water to reconstitute.

2. Start the dough. Mix together the flour and cold water until it sticks
together. Knead the dough adding more flour or water until you get a dry
elastic dough kind of like bagel/pizza/pretzel dough. The gluten must be
activated! This takes a while.

3. Set aside dough and let it rest.

4. Mince napa cabbage place in bowl and sprinkle with salt. Mix well and let
sit. You are trying extract the water from the napa cabbage.

5. Chop garlic chives about 1/8 inch.
6. Mince all the other ingredients and place in bowl.
7. squeeze the nappa cabbage between your hands to press out the liquid. Toss
in bowl. Repeat until no cabbage left. Reserve liquid.

8. Add condiments to taste. I usually use a about 1" on the soy sauce bottle.
1 to 2 inches on the rice wine. and a couple of squirts of the sesame oil.

9. Mix all the ingredients together. look at the filling if you think it's too
dried add some of the cabbage juice and mix again. This is especially important
if you are using the fresh shrimp. It's drier than the veggies and pork so the
filling will need to be moistened.

10. back to the dough. take a managable chunk of the dough and knead. Stretch/
roll out the dough until you get a rope/cable about an inch in diameter. cut
out about 1/2inch to 3/4 inch pieces. Make one cut rotate snake 90 degrees and
make 2nd cut. This keeps the dough round.

11. Dust both cut ends and flatten the lump with your hand. make sure the cut
end is facing up. this makes rolling out circles easier.

12. Roll out the dough into roughly 3 inch circles.

(I usually cheat at home, I use a pasta machine and a cookie cutter. hand
rolled does taste better though)

13. Put a rounded teaspoon of filling into the center of the circle. Fold
dough in half. Pinch the top of the semi circle closed. crimp the other 2
sides. pretty doesn't really matter. the most important thing is to seal the
dumplings shut.

14. while you are making the dumplings. Fill a stock pot about 1/2 full with
water and let boil.

15. when you get a good sized batch of dumplings. toss them in the pot. stir
gently once or twice so they don't stick to the bottom. Let the water come to a
boil. add cold water to the pot. Repeat 2 more times. It takes 3 boilings
usually to boil dumplings. If your pot is too small (as it was at Pennsic).
Let the dumplings boil until they float on the water. Then I let it boil for
about 3-5 more minutes (paranoid, who me?). Serve hot.

16. Dipping sauce.

I use soy sauce. Zhengjiang vinegar (black vinegar), sesame oil, and shredded
ginger and scallions usually. You can also have chili sauce on the side. it's
up to you.

17. dumplings also freeze well. at home I stick the entire plate of raw
dumplings in the freezer and let them freeze. then I pop them off the plate and
dump them into a ziplock baggie and toss the whole thing back in the freezer.
Frozen dumplings require 4 boilings.

18. you can also pan fry them.

I finished it! Origami Vest

I can't remember when I started this 2004? 2005?

But it's finally finished. It should have been done a lot sooner, but I messed up the machine binding and the buttonholes. So I decided to rip it out and redo it by hand. I just finished tonight!

The vest is reversible, one side is made up of a crane print with two origami cups on the front as pockets. The back has an origami flapping bird and an origami crane.

The reverse side is inspired by the novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the Little Prince. It is my favorite chapter in the book, chapter 21, where the little prince tames the fox and they become unique to each other and responsible for each other because they have created ties.

The sun is made up of an octagonal twist fold. The little prince is inspired by Neal Elias' human figures and uses the Elias stretch. The fox is a traditional fox model.

The front pockets are made up of the traditional fox and the traditional cup models. The rose is my design based off of a twist fold on a 16 x 16 grid.

The pattern is from Judy Murrah's book, Jacket Jackpot.

Here is a link to some more photos including close ups.

Brokenbridge A&S Night

Sir Hopsalot at Brokenbridge A&S Night.
He morphed into Little Bunny Fou Fou. Complete with skewered mouse and good fairy!

Barbara filked the original story by filching Sir Walter Scott’s Lochinvar to commemorate Sir Hopsalot's brave demise.

The Ballad of Sir Hopsalot, or Once A Knight for a Only a Day

O, Young Sir Hopsalot came out of the west
A brand-new, young knight to be put to the test.
He knew that his actions would be all the best
If he could but find a fine task on his quest.

“O I am so handsome, O I am so strong”
He sang to himself as he traveled along.
“I am always right, because I’m never wrong,
I excell in might, and I excell in song.”

“All of the young ladies will flock to my bed,
And all of my enemies soon will be dead.
I would wear a helmet with a plume of red
If only one could fit upon my swelled head.”

One day he met with the vile Grendel Tigger
Who said, “We need a strong hero with vigor,
Whose fame and wealth could stand to become bigger
Molly is slick, so we need someone slicker.”

“Vile Molly has captured the fair young Nicole.
This lady’s enchanted and hid in a hole,
Surrounded by treasures so rich beyond toll,
To rescue this lady must be our knight’s goal.”

“Vile Molly steals things that she chews night and day
Nicole’s to be next if she can’t get away!
You’ll gain all of vile Molly’s toys as your pay
If you but this vile Molly Monster can slay.”

“Most certainly I shall embark on this quest.
I’ll show all the world Hopsalot is the best.
I’ll rid Unclaimed Lands of this vile, smelly pest.”
(He was unaware of the cruel Grendel-jest.

For Tigger had plans of her own, now, you see
“This Molly’s a nuisance, and always will be.
If Michele isn’t walking that dog out to pee...
Then, all of her love and attention’s for MEE!)

So Hopsalot went onto the tourney field
“I’ll show them, my quality will be revealed.”
But breeding will out, and his fate soon sealed
And he gained foul wounds that could never be healed.

For Molly was quicker and Molly was strong,
And pulped up and gulped him before very long.
This may have been right, or perhaps it was wrong
In any case, this is the end of our song.

Sir Hopsalot and the Pets of DOOM!

Meet Sir Hopsalot.

















He was a brave and noble knight residing in the Canton of Brokenbridge. He was so well loved the Canton placed him on their device.









This is the story of Sir Hopsalot and the pets of DOOM!






One day as Sir Hopsalot was hopping along admiring himself and enjoying the adulation of the denizens of the Canton.

(Please note the frog featured prominently in the foreground.)


He encountered the great MOLLY monster! Now Molly was great with wroth and envy at Sir Hopsalot, because he had all those denizens... and well they are really HER chew toys, and she really didn't like the idea of him absconding with them. And Sir Hopsalot is a rabbit. And Molly is a beagle. And as the saying goes, breeding will tell...

Molly was also greatly annoyed, aggravated, and generally pissy, b/c the stupid human kept on dressing her up and putting booties on her feet.

And so this was the mood the Molly Monster was in when poor, brave, and noble, Sir Hopsalot encountered her.

(Mommy, this is humiliating. I'm going to GET you for this.)


But! It's also a tail... oops I mean tale... of betrayal and sibling rivalry. You see, the EVIL Tigger Grendel was jealous of the Molly Monster and the attention she took away from HIM!!! Because Tigger was no longer the center of the human's world. Tigger did not want to share his toys and his human with the upstart canine. So he brooded and plotted and thought dastardly thoughts.

Tigger Grendel had heard of the great, brave, and noble Sir Hopsalot. He decided he would seek out this paragon of knightly virtue and chivalry and tell him about the DREADED Molly Monster who liked to CHEW and MAUL the great knight's adoring throng, not to mention Tigger's own catnip toys.

So one day Sir Hopsalot bumped into Tigger Grendel along one of his perambulations.
"EEK!" Squeaked Sir Hopsalot. "Ehem! I mean how do you do this fine day, milord?" As he attempted to edge away from Tigger's carnivorous fangs.

"Oh! Sir Knight! You must help! There is a monster that lives in a cave filled with treasure! She's been dragging your friends off to her treasure cave in a dark mere and CHEWING on them! Sir Knight! you must save them!"




"What!" cried the knight, brandishing sword and nearly slicing off Tigger Grendel's beautiful whiskers. Tigger leaped back just in the nick of time saving his whiskers of which he was VERY PROUD. "Tell me where this evil villianess is!! I will save my friends and rescue the beautiful Nicole from her foul paws!"





So Tigger told the brave and noble knight where the Molly Monster's cave was. And they plotted her demise.







Sir Hopsalot hopped along to the Molly Monster's treasure cave and confronted her.

Devastated by the carnage he saw scattered about, he challenged her to a duel!

Well, unfortunately, it did not go as the knight planned. He is a rabbit and she is a beagle.





She decapitated him and calmly went back to chewing on his friends.

The End

Author's note: No live animals were harmed in the writing of this story. Origami stunt animals were however dismembered by the armload.

Postscript from the actors:
Molly: that's what she thinks! That was so HUMILIATING. How am I supposed to face my friends in the dog run???
Tigger: That's so wrong!! If I were really plotting against the mutt, do you THINK I would be so INEPT!!! PLUH--EEZE I'm a cat! I don't do inept. HUMPH!!!

A Foray into Geekdom

http://xkcd.com/356/
Hee hee. Julie why did you have to post this link?

http://www.toroidalsnark.net/mkbook.html
OOH! a Fiber and Math together!

See! I'm NOT alone!! Someone wrote a BOOK about it! I still want to know how Mme Lafarge KNIT the names in A Tale of Two Cities. Although, it does seem like a really SLOW way to take notes.

Back to washing the fleece! The box GROWS! Why must Tigger LOUNGE across my wrists when I type?