Smoky's Letter to Lada Monguligin

Smoky a giant angora rabbit has developed a deep love for Lady Lada Monguligin.  This a transcript of the love letter he has written her, which traveled through many perilous paths to reach Lady Lada at the Siege of Kiev.

To my dearest  love Lady Lada Monguligin, Il-Khatun of Ostgardr
From your ever faithful worshipper Evergreen Darkest Dawn, called Smoky,

My sweet, I hope my missive does not find you PINING for our reunion, but the dastardly Suuder does PLOT to keep us apart!  I have prevailed upon the neighborly Shriek the Hawk of Hawke’s Reache to bring my letter to my kinsman Sir Hopsalot, the Cony of Brokenbridge, to deliver my missive into your fair hand.  I fear that it shall be intercepted by the minions of your fearsome Lord. 

My dearest for I cannot contain myself! Since receiving a sign of your regard in the form of your signature upon our joint likenesses.  I must confess my deepest passion for your beauteous person.

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
Thy gown of wool will be of mine own wool,
To cushion and caress thy every move! 

For you are my sun! My moon! My starlit sky. Without you I dwell in darkness. I love you! Your power has enchanted me, I stand helpless against it. Come to me, now. Tonight, let me worship you in my arms. I love you! How can I stop the beating of my heart? It pounds like never before. Death, next to love is a trivial thing. Your touch is worth 100,000 deaths.  I will not fear your fierce lord with the deadly arrows and evil appetite for hasenpfeffer!  For am I not a rabbit? A fleet and tricksy creature?  That Aesop spoke BASE FALSEHOOD of my ancestor!  For it is not possible for as sluggish and clumsy a beast as a TORTOISE to DEFEAT my fleet and agile kind!

Ah!!! Your touch! How I long for the touch of your hands when you hold me and pet me.  I must restrain myself from sinking my teeth into your lovely, lovely flesh.  For I fear the taste of your blood will cause me to forget myself and fall upon you like a wild beast! 

O my love, I must relate to you my situation for it is fraught with danger.  The EVIL MOLLY MONSTER dwells with Mommy and me.  The dread beagle Molly who was the downfall of my dear cousin Sir Hopsalot.  Poor Hoppy, he shall hop with a limp forever more from the attentions of that most fearsome hound.  I implore you!  Please rescue me from her despicable habits of devouring my leavings with INDECENT abandon!

My dearest since we cannot be together.  I have sent a small token of my regard.  It is camouflaged as the arms of the Canton in which you reside, so your dread lord will not suspect.  Please remember me fondly as my fluffiness caresses your tender brow and protects your delicate ears from the cruel winter winds as they sweep in from the eastern ocean.  Know too, the same eastern wind will have ruffled my floof in Hawkes Reache before it caresses your cheek and in this manner we may be briefly united!

Let the tail of our love will ring through the ages like that of Jessica and Roger Rabbit!

I pray that my words will not be met with indifference or disgust, but I can no longer remain silent upon receiving the sign of your favor when you autographed our picture. 

Forever in your service (and I hope your deepest affections),

Evergreen Darkest Dawn
Your very own darling “Smoky”

April 9, Anno Societatis LII

Canton of Hawkes Reache, Barony of An Dubhaigeainn

Wow…  Smoky is a terrible, terrible plagiarist!  lol

Kit Marlowe is rolling in his grave.  And George Lucas would probably be horrified if he knew about this.  

Chinese style custard buns

I've been experimenting with the steamed custard buns from dim sum places.  So far this is my favorite version.

I started with this custard recipe, since every other one I've found starts with a custard or pudding mix.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/29/steamed-recipes-chinese-egg-custard-buns-spotted-dick-recipe-ruby-tandoh

This is my version which bears very little resemblance to the original.

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 13.5oz can of unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
8 egg yolks - beaten
1 generous teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 cup of coconut flakes, or to taste I use it more for a little texture, it also hides the lumps in the custard.

1. Pour milks and sugar into a saucepan.  Stir until it simmers.
2. Add vanilla & nutmeg.
3. Stir in egg yolks careful it doesn't curdle.
4. Keep stirring to prevent lumps.
5. Add coconut flakes.
6. Cook for about a minute.
7.  Let cool,

Use your favorite steamed bun dough or for baking favorite enriched bread dough if baking.

stuff the buns.
Steam or bake.

Eat.

S2S+BBQ - Planning - Finding a lamb

So I have a tentative agreement for a cook which was confirmed at the CT Sheep & Wool Festival in 2013.  (I think it's because his wife is a fiber geek & foodie too and the chance to combine both at one party helped her convince her husband to assist in the insanity!)  So now that I have adult supervision, I felt more confident in starting to search for local farms that might possibly sell me fleece(s) and a freezer lamb.  I started collecting business cards from farms in NJ, PA, CT, & Southeastern NY (Long Island & around Westchester) at fiber festivals.  Since we were going to host this fiasco at Harry's house I was really hoping to find someplace on Long Island.

After Rhinebeck last year, I moved in with Harry.  I started looking for a CSA (community supported agriculture) to join.  As I was digging through websites and news articles as well as asking local friends for recommendations the Garden of Eve kept popping up.  So I went to their website and saw they were offering a winter share and it included eggs and meat which was what I was looking for.  I took a closer look at their website and noticed sheep!  Then I read "one show-winning purebred ram named Infinity, who I brought back from Maryland on a charter tour bus."  Wait a minute!  I HEARD about this on a local spinning list.  OMG! This farm is OWNED by the woman who brought a lamb back from MDSW on the bus.   I read on further and the site says they sell both lambs and fleeces.  The meat share says it could include chickens or lamb from the farm.  This is exactly what I was looking for my birthday.  A farm with dual purpose sheep that sell both fleeces and freezer lamb.  And as an added bonus the shepherd is a fiber person so spinner's flock!

So I called Eve and asked about a winter share for the CSA and also asked her about market lamb.  At first she was a bit hesitant, so I explained to her why I was looking for a both fleece(s) and lamb from the same farm.  While chatting with her, I found out she belongs to the Spinning Study Group of Long Island, the guild I just joined.  And yes, she did sell both lamb and fleeces.  And yes I could tentatively reserve a lamb for next fall, depending lambing this spring.  She also shears in the spring after it gets warm enough for the sheep to be without their winter coats!  Yay!  I have located a dual purpose spinner's flock within a hours drive of Harry's house, which is a much better commute than I thought I would manage.  Before I spoke to Eve, I was trying to figure out the logistics of transporting a whole (hopefully frozen) carcass from either PA, S Jersey, or upstate to Long Island!  Another important question...  Um...  Eve, do you have butcher or someone who can process the lamb for me and how BIG do you estimate the lamb will be and how much meat?  Although, I'm trying to get closer to my food (the whole farm to table thing) I'm really really NOT prepared to have Harry trying to slaughter and process an animal in is backyard, never mind what his neighbors would say!  Plus...  um...  having an amateur slaughter the lamb kind of defeats the whole purpose of happy livestock living a nice free range life and before being humanely brought to the table.  Success! She uses a neighbor for her processing and gave me an estimate of the cost.  She said it's really hard to guess how big a lamb will by 4 - 5 months but gave me a range of 60 - 80 lbs live weight which would figure to about 30-50 lbs of meat.  WOW...  that's a lot of meat.  Eve told me to touch bases with her around March to ask about fleeces, lambing, her shearing schedule, and prices.  I thanked her and said I would follow up in March.

Yeah!  Two birds with one stone!  I have a farm share for the winter and source for fleece and lamb, who doesn't think I'm out of my mind.  Well maybe she does and is just too polite to tell me. :)

S2S+BBQ - Planning - Feasibility Study

So the first thing I did was to start looking at weekends in September of 2014 around my birthday.  My birthday would actually a Sunday, so for the convenience of everyone potentially involved I decided to pick the Saturday before as the day.

I foresaw a few obstacles to pulling this off.  The first was where to stage this fiasco.  The second was who could I get to oversee the cooking (adult supervision) so we didn’t set fire to whatever location was dumb kind enough to let me try this out and course produce a safe yummy dinner.  And finally what farm was going to sell me both a sheep AND a fleece for this project.

1. Find a cook.
2. Location
3. Find an understanding shepherd (preferably another fiber geek).

So the first thing I did was set about trying to procure myself adult supervision.  The whole project hinged upon finding someone with the knowledge willing to come supervise the cooking process.  I was not going to have an animal killed and then waste the meat due to complete lack of preparation and ignorance.  I sent out a bunch of emails to some friends who I figured might have a clue and interest and also asked them to offer suggestions on whomever else I might ask if they were unavailable.  Well, I love SCAdians.  I got a tentative agreement on my first try.  A friend of mine in CT said pencil me in and ask me again in January I will have a better idea then.  YAY!  It was reassurance that I wasn’t complete off my rocker.  After all, someone else has just agreed it sounded interesting and might potentially be willing to help pull this off.

For next step, I started putting out feelers to friends with sheep and explained that I was looking for both fleece(s) and a lamb from the same breed and preferably farm and why.  The other question was um…  if they are willing to sell me a lamb around this date do they also have a butcher that could process the lamb for me.  Because um… I’m really not prepared to get that up close and personal with my food.

Surprisingly, the friends with sheep didn't think I was mean, cruel, or evil.  They explained that even though they had mostly fiber flocks, ram lambs are a byproduct and there are only so many extra wethers and rams they can keep around eating their heads off or sell off to kids looking for 4H animals.  And while most breeders won’t advertise that they have freezer lamb available, especially where they might freak out fairgoers, but if I take business cards and contact them privately I would most likely be able to find what I was looking for closer to wherever I was holding the party.  I kind of figured that was case, but it was good to have firsthand confirmation.  They also answered my questions about cost of a lamb, estimated live weight to butchered weight to weight of meat on the carcass, as well as the cost of butchering and what to do with the hide etc etc.

Originally, I was going to hold this at my parents’ house.  They live up in Northern Westchester on two acres, plenty of space to have an outdoor party and to dig a firepit.  Plus, there are a fair amount of sheep farms within a two hour drive.  I should be able to get someone to sell me fleece and a freezer lamb.  Then Pennsic XL happened and I met Harry.  When I told him what I was planning he said, why don’t you have it at my place?  I have a big yard and I’ll even dig the hole for the fire pit.  How could I not love him?  And I figured I’d get less flack from him than from Dad.

So the initial feasibility study looked good for being able to pull this off in 2 years.

Sheep to Shawl plus BBQ - WUT?!

So my 40th birthday is coming up and I've been planning the party for a while now.  Based on all the questions I've been getting about the planning and execution I figured it might be a good idea to blog about it, just in case anyone wants to repeat this they can at least learn what NOT to do from this record.  And this is along a way for me to keep my friends who cannot make it in the loop.  So here goes...

First off I have to admit that I usually find themed birthday parties cheesy and I think it’s pretty pathetic when someone throws herself a party.  So guess what I’m doing for my 40^th birthday?  Not just doing but planning for over two years?  I’m throwing myself a Sheep to Shawl plus BBQ party.  What the hell does that even mean you ask?  Well it’s simple!  Or maybe not so much.

1.  A Sheep to Shawl or in this case fleece to shawl is usually a demonstration or contest where participants start with either a sheep or a fleece (washed or unwashed depending on the event) and spin and weave a shawl on a pre-warped loom.
2. BBQ – well we’re going to spit roast a whole lamb.

Are you INSANE?!  Do you really need to ask?  I though the answer was fairly obvious.

So how did I dream up this idea?  Well, ever since I learned to spin I've wanted to start a sheep to team to enter the competition at Rhinebeck.  Due to a variety of reasons, mostly an inability to find a group of people with the interest who lived geographically close enough to actually get together and practice the plan flopped, and of course no one in our merry band actually had a transportable loom or a car large enough to transport any their existing looms.  Floor looms even workshop ones are FURNITURE!  So I had to table the idea.

A friend’s birthday party and several sheep and wool festivals later I discovered that under certain conditions I actually like lamb as food.  And one day chatting with some friends about who knows what I asked wouldn't this be an awesome idea for a party?  Sheep to Shawl and BBQ.  What?  Well the fiber people would get together and do the whole sheep to shawl thing.  In the meantime there would be whole lamb roasting for when we are done.  Most of them agreed it was a pretty cool idea.  I started playing around with the idea and decided.  OMG I’m turning 40 in a couple of years.  If I haven’t managed to get sheep to shawl team together for a Rhinebeck I’m so going to try to do this for my 40^th birthday.  If for no other reason than I’m going to bribe my friends with a roast lamb dinner to come help me spin this sucker.

And thus my little brainstorm and adventure began.

Fiber 12 Step Program - the Downward Spiral

So a couple of years ago some friends and I went to the Silk Road exhibit in Philly.  One friend's husband patiently waited with their daughter for all of us to exit the exhibit.  He informed us, "you people need a 12 step program." While I was packing, I found this scribbled on a scrap of paper.  Clearly inspired by his comment. :)

1. Start was a "simple craft or hobby," like knitting.
2. Knit madly, start acquiring books on patterns and various techniques.
3. Start acquiring yarn just because it's shiny.
4. Start going to sheep and wool festivals.
5. Decide to learn to spin so that you can understand yarn better.
6. Decide most yarn available for sale isn't EXACTLY what you need or want.
7. Start spinning yarn for projects.
8. Start acquiring fiber because it's shiny.
9. Start acquiring fiber tools because it's shiny.
10. Learn fiber prep.  Decide commercially prepared fiber isn't exactly what you need.
11. Start acquiring raw fleeces.
12. Learn another fiber craft like weaving to suck up your yarn stash, because you don't want to "waste" your handspun.

My personal 12 step program.

Oh and it's gotten worse, last month I convinced my boyfriend to transport a sheep back from the MD Sheep & Wool festival back for a local farm.  AND I want an angora bunny.  Onward to fiber animals!
The adventure continues!

Rhode Island Seafood Chowder (my version)

With the colder weather starting up, I’ve been starting to make more soups and stews.  I saw that John’s Farm (http://johnsfarms.com/) was having a great sale on clams and Boston scrod and I’ve been craving fresh seafood.

I found this recipe online:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/rhode-island-clam-chowder.aspx
I modified it for what I had in the house.  I wanted a hearty chowder, but I don’t like dairy and I didn’t want the flavor of the seafood to be masked by tomatoes.  I added scrod filets, because they were on sale and also because I wanted the soup to be meatier than clams alone.

I used this method to make the clam broth http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/clam-broth.aspx

Ingredients:
24 cherrystone clams
1 net bag of mussels
2lbs of scrod filet
4 thin carrots
1 large sweet onion
2 each of Yukon gold, white, and red skin potatoes (6 total)
half a package of canadian bacon (4 or 5 slices)
2 cups of pino grigot
water
basil

1. Set the clams and mussels to soak for at least an hour or 2.  This lets them spit out the sand.

2. Boil 2 cups of water in a large pot.
Clean and pick over the shellfish.  Make sure they are alive.  Discard any that are questionable.
3. When the water has boiled, add the clams and cover.

4. Let cook for 10minutes.  Fish out the clams that have opened and place in a bowl.  Stir the remaining clams and fish them out as they open.

5. When most of them are opened and removed add the mussels and cover.  Check after 5minutes.  They should cook a lot faster than the clams.  Remove the opened ones and stir.

6. If any shell fish still have not opened after 20minutes of total cooking time, throw them out.  Turn off the stove.

7. Pick out the meat of the shellfish and put in the refridgerator.  Pour any juices back into the pot.  Throw out the shells.

8. Mince the garlic & dice the remaining vegetables.

9. Chop the bacon fine.
By this point the liquid should be cool enough to pour into another container.

10. Turn on the stove and add some olive oil to the pot.  When the oil is hot add the bacon.

11. Sauté until you can smell the bacon.  Add the onions and sauté until they are translucent.

12. Add the celery and sauté.

13. Add the reserved clamjuice and the white wine.

14. Add the potatoes and the carrots.
Add about 2 quarts of water

15. Add basil (I think my basil was old and it really didn’t do much for the soup) to taste and let simmer for at least 2 hours.  You want the starch in the potatoes to start thickening the broth a little.

16. Chop up the shellfish.And add to the pot. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

17. Cut up the fish filets into chunks.
Gently add the fish. And let simmer covered for 10 minutes.

18. Check the fish.  They should be almost flaking at this point.  Turn off the heat and let sit covered for at least another half hour.

19. I break up (flake) the fish lumps at this point with the back of a wooden spoon and the side of the pot.

Serve with oyster crackers.

Note: the longer you let the pot sit, the yummier the chowder gets.