Beans, Beans, the Pandemic Fruit...

When we were stocking the pantry over a month ago, ahead of the pandemic, we bought a big bag of dried beans.  We do eat a lot of beans, especially since J is a vegetarian, but I don't typically cook them from dried because I have a terrible problem planning meals ahead - I do pretty good planning everything else though.

I forgot to soak the beans last night (again), so I tried the "quick soak" method today:  cover the beans by about 1 inch with water, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.  Cover, remove from heat and let soak for 1 hour.  Drain beans and then cook as normal.

This seemed to have worked!  I had this pot of pintos simmering (with tomatoes, onions, garlic, chili, cumin, salt and pepper) for about 3 hours, and they are tender, creamy, and delicious.

Back before Christmas, J's friend was like the bean fairy, leaving dried beans in random places.  I found several in my car, and my purse, and recently some came through the washer.  I planted them, and they have been growing on my window sill for months.

They have been looking much worse for wear lately, because they need more room to grow (and actually 2 of them died, I'm sorry to say), so I planted them outside in my flower bed this morning.  We got a good rain after that, so hopefully they will survive and thrive out there to create more beans for the pandemic!

Caribbean Feast

J has been asking for over a month if we could make a Caribbean Feast.  Finally last week she sent me a link to the video she had seen, and we attempted to make a Caribbean Feast.

Keep in mind, the video shows about 4 main dishes, along with fried plantains and roti.  I spent 2 hours cooking, and was able to make the Jerked Lentils, Naan (instead of roti) and the fried plantains.  First of course, I had to make Jerk Seasoning.

In any case, it was delicious.  Let me know if you feel adventurous enough to tackle the whole feast!

Here is how I made the Jerk Lentils, (Rachel Ama's recipe on line did not include directions.)

Jerk Lentils

1/2 large red onion, diced

1 T fresh ginger, grated

3 sprigs of thyme

2 spring onions, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, pressed

1 T maple syrup

1 1/2 T jerk seasoning

1-14 oz can of diced tomatoes

4 c vegetable or chicken stock

1 lb dried green lentils (rinsed and picked through)

Saute onion in olive oil until translucent, then add ginger, garlic, and jerk seasoning and cook for another minute.  Add tomatoes, stock, lentils, maple syrup, green onions and thyme, and season well with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, 30-45 minutes.

Making Masks

Now that it is recommended that we all wear masks in public, we are in a position of needing masks.  JP could bring a couple home from work, but I don't want to ask him to waste precious PPE that could keep him safer at work.

I decided to make some for our family.  I have lots of scraps of colorful fabric, and I like this pattern from JOANN - it includes a layer of interfacing, making them even less permeable, which I thought was important.

I did alter the pattern just a bit - moved the elastic down 5/8 inch from the top edge and created a tube that I could slide a pipe cleaner into.  This makes the top edge adjustable and helps keep glasses from steaming up.

I made a half dozen today for my family, but if I can pick up some more elastic, I would like to make some more to donate where needed.  They are fully machine washable and reusable.

** ADDENDUM:  After making all of these masks, JP pointed out that they are impermeable.  This actually counteracts the entire point of wearing the masks, which is the FILTER the air - you should be able to breathe THROUGH the mask, not have air come in and out around the edges.  I went back and removed the interfacing from these, and they work more appropriately.  So, IF YOU USE THIS PATTERN, DO NOT USE THE INTERFACING.  Two layers of fabric is really all the CDC is recommending.

Barista Goals

We don't have a Starbucks in our little town, and I wouldn't frequent the place if one actually did.  However, I have a sweet tooth, enjoy my legal addictive stimulants (aka coffee), and have fun trying new things.

Last night I happened to see a video about making Dalgona Coffee.  Apparently, it is the thing that EVERYONE is making during this pandemic - a cloud of fluffy coffee piled on top of milk.  I tried it this morning, and I was amazed that these 4 ingredients make such a fun cup of coffee!

Dalgona Coffee (makes 2 servings)

3 T instant coffee granules

3 T sugar

3 T hot water

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix on high speed with a hand held mixer until mixture forms soft peaks.  Fill a glass with 3/4 c of cold milk and dollop coffee mixture on top.

A couple of weeks ago, I found this recipe for a Harry Potter inspired Butterbeer Latte.  I made a couple of changes to the recipe:  I add a pinch of salt to the butter and brown sugar.  After adding milk and warming it all up, I add a teaspoon of instant espresso granules, froth it well and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Are you all trying any fun coffee recipes now that we're not supposed to leave our houses?

Wash Your Hands!

With the Stay-at-Home orders in effect, and things like hand sanitizer being in high demand and not easy to obtain, I decide to make my own.

I followed this "recipe", but also read through recommendations by WHO and the CDC.

Some important things to note:

- Be sure that the equipment that you use to measure and mix are clean, you don't want to be "cleaning" your hands with something that is contaminated.

- It is important to use at least 91% rubbing alcohol, because in order to be effective, the concentration of the final product needs to be greater than 60% alcohol.

-  In the formulation from WHO, they added a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to kill any fungal spores that may be present on your equipment or aloe vera gel, so I did add about a teaspoon to my mixture.

- This mixture turned out very liquid-y, which is fine with me - makes it easier to apply everywhere quickly, but just be advised that it IS NOT a gel.

- Of course, the BEST policy remains actually washing your hands frequently with soap and water!

Green Thumb?

I made 50 little pots out of newspaper (both recycled and will be biodegradable) and L helped me plant seeds.  We have tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, summer squash, zucchini, peppers, basil and parsley planted.

My hands got a little discolored from the newsprint.

Hopefully the garden will be ready to plant them into in a few weeks!

Are you planting anything this spring?

One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

Which of these pear trees doesn't belong?

I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo or not, but the tree in the foreground looks different from the others lining my drive.  It's not quite shaped the same, and it isn't blooming.  For years, I've blamed this on the fact that I've had to replace a number of these trees over the years, and I always fill in with another Cleveland Pear tree, courtesy of our local neighborhood Big Lots store.

Last Spring, however, we got a few blooms on this tree.  Lo and behold, later in the summer, we actually got a few pears growing on the tree too.

In early September last year, I was able to pick my pear harvest.

Now I know that somehow, Big Lots sold me a different kind of pear tree.  I don't mind so much because it is alive and actually produced fruit, which is something that none of the very expensive fruit trees in my now defunct orchard have never done.

This year, the tree is COVERED with flower buds, so I have high hopes for an even better pear harvest this year...IF we can get to them BEFORE the critters.