Hello again, Farmers Market, and Dammsugare

Hello All!
Yes I know it's been a while. Life happens sometimes and takes us away from our goals. But I am back my dears.

So I want to talk about Farmers Markets. I have moved away from some of the best farmers markets I know and now have a 30-40 minute drive to get to them. But it is worth it. Dear lord it is so worth it.

This is my bounty from this past weekend. Basil, tomatoes, blueberries, the best strawberries ever, peaches, Persian cucumbers, and lemon cucumbers. My car was filled with the smell of basil and strawberries. It was amazing. It smelled like summer. It smelled like picnics and gatherings. I came home full of energy and purpose. Recipe ideas were swirling around my head and I felt virtuous and healthy. I was ready to cook. So I did. A lot. 

I made a salad out of the cucumbers. Easy and so basic I won't even deign to call it a "recipe" I just cut them up (only peeling the lemon cucumbers) and put dressing on it. The tomatoes and basil went with some mozzarella I had to make a caprese salad. The strawberries went with a loaf of almond pound cake and ginger whipped cream to make my version of strawberry shortcake. The blueberries into a blueberry tart. The peaches have yet to find a goal and may just end up eaten. But non of these were my biggest challenge I set myself. That was reserved for Dammsugare.

So Dammsugare is a Swedish dessert. In Swedish it means "vacuum cleaner". I haven't met anyone who knows why this is. But they are delicious! The dough is easier then I expected but it turned out amazing. Here is the recipe I worked off of. 

To make dammsugare (makes around 10):

(from London eats)

For the filling:

• 250g cake crumbs (e.g. vanilla sponge)
• 75g unsalted butter, softened
• 20g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 40ml punsch or rum

To decorate:

• 300g marzipan
• few drops green food coloring
• 200g dark chocolate

To make the filling:

Put everything into a bowl and mix well until you have a soft dough. It will be a little sticky and slightly crumbly. Form into 10-12 rolls.

To decorate:

Add some food coloring to the marzipan and knead well until evenly coloured. Sprinkle a worktop with icing sugar, and roll the marzipan into a long strip 2-3mm thick (you might find this easier in two or three batches).

Use the marzipan to cover the portions of dough – get a good seal on the underside, and pinch the end closed. Roll the marzipan-coated dough on the worktop to get a smooth finish. Keep going until all the dough pieces are covered.

Next, melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, and dip the ends of each dammsugare into the chocolate. If you want them to look professional with glossy chocolate, you can either temper the chocolate, or take the easy option – skip the tempering, and put the dipped dammsugare on a plate in the fridge to harden.

I made a few more then 10. You can make them whatever size you want. 

I made them small, about two bite size. They are best kept in the fridge I found. When left at room temp the marzapain didn't stay hard enough to hold them together. So good though! I want to try with different types of cake and cookies. You can use either or whatever type of sweet crumbs you have around. 

Now on another note I have a puppy! Her name is Pippi and she is a pitbull-lab mix. She is the sweetest most out going dog around. So be ready for more updates about the exploits of Pippi the pup! 

Have a beautiful day and be kind to each other!

Snail Mail

Hello! 

I know it has been a while and I have been busy. I have started to send snail mail again. It is like getting a little present in the mail. I love sending it. 

These were some of the letters I sent out for Valentine's day. I have been sending out ones each month. 

I will update with more soon! hope you are all doing well.

1 house full

Good morning!
It is a beautiful monday morning and the sun is shining in my window. I have work then class today but a little update is in order.

We have an attic dweller. That means that we now have 8 people living in the house with 2 frequent weekend visitors. We have filled every room and are now moved on to the attic and are looking into getting a shed out back. It is a house full of nonsense and music. In a way it's kinda crazy and in another way kind of amazing. There are some big personalities in the house and something is always happening it seems. My bedroom has become more and more of a sanctuary and you never know what will happen when you step out my door. You might go to get coffee and have to push a boy out of the way while he plucks the cactus spikes out of his tongue. You might try to make dinner and get caught up in a discussion of gangis kahn. Oh and I forgot the animals. There are 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 chickens will be joining for a little while soon. I think my mom dreams of having an empty nest at this point. We are running out of bathrooms though. It's not a party house and most of us are very intellectual so it works out fine it's just intense. like some crazy reality show where they throw a bunch of people into the same house to see what happens. Well we are going to see what happens.

Have a great day and don't forget to smile!
mce

new things in my world post

Good day dear friends!

it has been a while since I last posted here. I have not been lazing around mind you. I have been busy busy busy! Let me fill you in on a few changes I've made.

The first is that I have moved into my mother's house with Jono. We moved in last august before I started school in september. Yes dears started school again. It has been a while since I was sitting in a classroom but I have now finished my first semester back and am halfway through my second. If I stay on the track I have planed and the school doesn't mess it up I will be graduating with my BA in the winter. Isn't that crazy? I still can't really believe how close it is. 

To stay on track I am taking 5 classes this semester as well as 5 in the fall. And still working at the daycare. And doing my homework. Have I gone crazy?! yes, yes I have. I am so happy to be back in school but the work load is intense. Much more writing as an anthro major then I did as a theater major for sure. But I find it all so interesting. Let my give you a little taste of my day. 

                                                          (My study space)

My day of classes in note form:

Education across cultures

    preschool in japan- not a lot of teacher enforced discipline. expect children to take care of their own problems without adult intervention. Used to instill the collectivism of their society and teaches the children to rely on each other and to know how to deal with each other. 

Human Growth and Development

      Epigenetics- the study of the way that genes are turned off and on. Events in a mother's life during the pregnancy can affect the child.-e.g. if a mother goes through a highly stressful event the child can be born with higher levels of stress hormones making it more susceptible to stress and anxiety disorders. 

Study period

Global Ethnography

     The trobrianders- Yams- used as a type of wealth only among the men and traded among the group between only men. Seen as extremely sexual objects and can not be given to a woman directly. Men are the only ones who grow yams. 

This is just a taste of what goes on in my little notebooks during the day. This is also just 3 of my classes and I have two others that I didn't mention. Overall I find them all very interesting. Thankfully since I have to put in a lot of work to get all the readings and essays done. 

Have a good day everyone! 

School on the horizon!

Hello!
So I have some good news! Hopefully if all goes as planed I will be back in school at Long Beach State. I will be an anthropology major. I am hoping to take some of the classes over the summer at SMC so I can take more classes in the fall. I am hoping to take a full load of 4 to 5 classes. I'm hoping I can finish in 2 years and then start in on my teacher cred. I will also be getting a special ed cred at the same time. Just you all know!

And lets not talk about the stress I've been going through.

hugs+kisses
mce 

Refocus

Hello all!
I know it's been a long time. Life got crazy and stressful. I was just trying to get by each day.
But I'm back!

So I have started cooking again. I find that when I stop cooking it is a sure sign that I am not taking care of myself or anything I need to take care of. I don't eat as well when I'm not cooking. So here is what I've been cooking.
Soups, lots of soups. I've made a lentil soup that turned out really well. Jono has started to go vegetarian so I've been trying to find more way to cook veggies. I also made a potato leek soup tonight that turned out really well. I have found some old moosewood cookbooks of my dad and mom's from way back when that are really amazing! Very old school but classic and awesome.

I've also gotten back into farmers market. We go every sunday morning and it's a really nice time to relax and get good veggies. And cheese. I have become addicted to cheese. Mostly goat cheese but other harder cheeses that I can spread red pepper jelly on. It's amazing. 

I'm going to try to keep track of the different things I make since I seem to forget things.

Hope everyone is doing well!
mattie

Dad

Good morning!
Everything has been busy. The kids are all catching something we think and the babies are still teething. It also has gotten crazy hot here. Doesn't feel like Fall at all.

But on another note I want to talk about my dad. I realize that for some reason I don't talk about him as much. But he has always had a huge impact on how I live my life. When I was in high school he helped me learn how to be understanding. To step back and think "well wait what is going on with them that is making them act like that. It might have nothing to do with me at all" He taught me how to think. He taught me to question everything. He taught me how to read. Not just the mechanics of it but the difference between good literature and fluff. He has had an effect on my day to day life more then anyone I think. I got my goals from my mom and my mind from my dad. And my dad taught me to see that. To be able to look at how I think and really figure out what I want.
For that I salute you dadda. I love you.

hug+kisses
mce