Remembering My Grandpa

For ten years, I have grieved the estrangement of my family.  I have sifted back through the memories and tried to find some fragment that would offer a solution.  Unsuccessfully.  And so I have continued to move forward but tied to the hope that one day a resolution would be found.  That is, until Thursday.

I received a Christmas card from my Mom.  When I slid out the green gilded card decorated with wreaths and with the word JOY pressed in gold, I held my breath.  Hoping.  And when I opened it, scribbled inside was the announcement that my Grandpa had died.  On May 2^nd. 

Grandpa taught me how to pull an onion, peel it, and eat it like an apple while standing ankle deep in the vegetable garden.  We would make ketchup and mustard sandwiches and giggle.  I’d hold nuts and bolts in my outstretched palm while he worked in his metal shop and then we’d sip a beer on the patio afterwards.  His out of the beer can and mine in a shot glass.  In short, I adored him.

But then I grew up.  And I saw a man. A man I loved, but didn’t agree with. And when I finally gathered up my courage and spoke up for myself and told the truth about my Dad and his parents abusing me, I was cast out of the family.  Cast out until I apologized for lying because things like that don’t happen in our family.  But it happened.  It’s real.  And now, I’m free from carrying the burden of a secret that was devouring me. 

This was an expensive choice that has cost me the love of those relatives that I adored most: my grandfather and brother.  But I was freed to be an imperfect me.

So, I will continue to move through this grief. And the day that my Grandpa died, I worked in my community garden plot and made a batch of peanut butter cookies. I’d like to think that as his spirit lifted up, he glanced down, and winked at me in approval.

Remember to Smile

The Assistant is sporting her Corona beer smile.

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.

                                                                                                              ~ Joseph Addison

Vanilla Sugar in My Coffee

Mary Poppins says that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but I find that a spoonful of vanilla sugar helps my morning cup of coffee go down, in the most delightful way. 

What is vanilla sugar you ask?  Vanilla sugar is simply granulated sugar combined with a few sliced open vanilla beans.  And the sugar absorbs the exotic fruity flavor of the vanilla beans in a matter of days, although a week is ideal.  I use vanilla sugar in my coffee, baked goods, and sprinkled over fresh berries.  It’s a simple way to enhance the flavor of your cooking.

I buy my favorite vanilla beans at Costco for less than ten dollars for a full year’s supply.  And after I scrape the seeds out for a recipe, I press the leftover pod into the sugar. 

Now, I want you to do me a favor.  Go look in your spice cabinet.  Do you see the fake bottle of vanilla on the shelf?  Now pick it up and as fast as you can, throw it in the trash!  Ok.  That’s better. Now go buy yourself some real vanilla extract or better yet, buy some vanilla beans and press them into your sugar canister.   You can thank me later.

Tip:  Vanilla sugar in a canning jar makes an adorable and useful holiday gift.

There's a Velociraptor in My Kitchen

I can’t keep a pastry brush in the house because The Assistant devours them.  I finally broke down and bought a cheapie pastry brush last week only to find her silently lifting it out of the dishwasher, carefully placed in her teeth like treasure.  I shook my head at her and she spat it out and walked away, her tail hanging in defeat.  But I knew that she would be back.  

The Assistant has a butter problem. On occasion, ok, whenever I bake with butter, The Assistant (my dog, Sadie) transforms into a velociraptor.  She starts inhaling air so deeply that she sounds like a humming shop vac.  And whenever I turn my back on a stick of butter on the counter, she carefully lifts up on her hind legs and snatches it off the counter and disappears into her kennel to snarf it down. 

So, when I made David Lebovitz’s butter pie dough, she just about lost it. David Lebovitz is a pastry genius.  I grow chocolate mint in my garden just so I can make his recipe for mint ice cream.  I’m currently reading through his book Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes.  His brownie recipe, Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies, is one of the best brownies that I’ve ever eaten and I’m a connoisseur of brownies.  I’m totally crushing on David Lebovitz, but I digress here.

Back to pie dough.  I have found my favorite pie dough recipe thanks to David Lebovitz and his love of butter.   I followed his directions and used my mixer fitted with a paddle to make the dough.  And it surpassed my expectations.  I made a custard pie and his butternut squash pie and I confidently shared them with friends and family.  And The Assistant was a frantic velociraptor the whole time they baked. She hunted and paced and drooled.  And after I tucked the completed pies into the fridge, she collapsed with her head on my lap and snored and farted while I watched television.  Being a velociraptor is exhausting work. 

Pie Dough 

from Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes by David Lebovitz

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon of salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes and chilled

6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

In your mixer bowl with the paddle attachment combine the flour, sugar, and salt.  Add in the butter and mix until the butter chunks are ¼ inch big.

Pour in the 6 tablespoons of water all at once and mix until the dough just starts to come together into a coarse dough.  Add two more tablespoons of water if needed. 

Pour the dough out onto a cutting board and cut it in half.  Press each piece into a one inch thick round disk and wrap with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to two days.  They can also be frozen for up to two months.

I rolled out and shaped my pie shell crusts and froze them overnight.  Then, following his directions, I prebaked my pie shells at 375 degrees for twenty minutes with a piece of foil and pie weights (beans) inside. I removed the foil and weights and baked for 10 more minutes.  And they turned out perfectly. 

Winterizing My Hardy Banana On a Budget

My banana tree is looking a little trashy right now, but it's for a good reason.  I swear.

West corner of the patio

I want to winterize my hardy banana, Musa basjoo (hardy to -10), in such a way that I protect the main pseudostem.  Last winter was mild and my banana's main pseudo-stem survived intact and it was able to reach 4 1/2 feet tall this past summer.  Most winters, here in USDA Zone 8b, it gets too cold for the banana and it dies all the way to the ground and then sets up new sprouts in the spring.  

(I'm sorry about the picture quality. I was in a hurry today with the picture taking because it was raining and My Pirate demands a bottle of rum when he works on a garden project for longer than one hour. No bottle of rum for you today, My Pirate!) 

I went into research mode and started looking for ways to help the new growth get through the winter.  And I kept finding the same advice over and over about cutting the stalk down to two feet tall and then insulating it.  I was relieved when I found Nest Maker's blog post detailing how the Portland Chinese Garden winterizes their tall bananas.  Their reusable insulation design captured my imagination and I decided to make a budget version.    

My Pirate asked our friend, a contractor, if he happened to have any insulation scraps hanging around and he did.  He gave us a nice chunk of water heater insulation.  Thanks Mark!

We slid the insulation into a large black garbage bag.  

And cut off a narrow strip of excess insulation that didn't fit.  

We folded the garbage bag's open edge and duct taped it shut. 

We even duct taped the edges.

I trimmed the banana leaves off the side of the trunk (pseudostem). Do you see the new pup beside the main trunk?

We wrapped the insulation filled garbage bag around the trunk of the banana and duct taped it in place. 

I tied a piece of twine around the top of the bag to help prevent water from getting inside the wrapping.  And I laid the trimmed banana leaves around the base of the plant.  

So there you have it.  My trashy looking banana tree, all wrapped up tight for the winter.  I might add a layer of burlap to dress it up a bit.  I'll let you know next spring how it turns out.    

Do you think that it'll work?