Comfort Food

So, I am feeling pretty bleh today.  We have had unseasonably gorgeous weather here in Northern Ca. Last week it got up to about 77 degrees F.  Phew, in February, no less.  It has been truly wonderful.  Now there is a storm blowing in and who knows?  Maybe it just has me in a mood.  On the up side.  A friend of mine has ducks that have been giving him more eggs than he knows what to do with.  Who knew ducks keep producing eggs durring the winter?  So, I cheerfully agreed to take some off his hands. Now, people who know me will have their eyebrows lifted in a question mark.  Because when I think of eggs, I usually think, EEEWWW YUK.  Yea, I am not a big fan of eggs.  Unless, that is if I am baking with them.  I will eat them, though for protein when I am tired of tofu.  But it has to be like, a little egg with those veggies, please.  Like that veggie scramble up there in my delightful little Erin Paradis bowl that I got at Crimson Laurel Gallery in Bakersville, NC last spring.  Can you see any egg in there.  I didn't think so.  One egg and a whole lot of veggies, spices, salsa, and olives just to make sure.

Now, eggs are eggs are eggs.  But try as I might tell myself that they were just bigger, fresher, better versions of chicken eggs I was a little squeamish about using them.  So I figured it would be best to try them out in brownies first.  Yup.  I killed two birds with one stone.  Comfort food and new territory, albeit, a teeny tiny challenge.  Now they were scrumptious, but I don't think nearly as beautiful as this Sharon Virtue tile I picked up last summer at the ACGA show in Palo Alto, CA.

And...don't you think these images are fun?   I got a hand me down iPhone 4 so I could finally play with iPhone photo artistry.  Alright then, I am going to pull up my big girl panties and get out of the house!

Another fun polaroid.

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Persimmon Bread Recipe

Just before Christmas the sun came out just long enough for me to run out to the persimmon tree, still dripping with rain,  and harvest some fruit before the birds could eat them all.

 

Actually, the tree is so tall I could never get to the top so the birds might as well enjoy those ones. I love the way the bright orange of the persimmons contrasts with the bright blue winter sky.

 

I picked a large bowl while the neighbor cat watched the fruit wildly swinging in the tree each time I would pull one off.  She is a crazy cat.  She loves when the fruit falls and she chases them, picks them up and drags them next door to her happy mistress who loves persimmons.

I left the bowl of fruit to ripen on the counter and got ready to head south to visit family.   These were crisp, ripe and juicy for eating but I wanted to make persimmon bread with them and for that they need to be super soft and mushy.  By the time I got back they were just right for mashing and baking.  

 

These are the Fuyu variety of persimmons which can be eaten while still hard and crispy but I am more used to baking with the Hachiya variety which cannot be eaten until it is soft as it is bitter and mouth puckering when still crisp.  However, if you wait for the Fuyu to get really soft they work just as well and there isn't a taste difference in the bread.   It was too bad the fruit wasn't ripe enough to bake with before Christmas.  When I got to my cousin's house she told me about all the fond memories she had from eating persimmon bread, especially with vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two slices.  Yum! As a New Years Eve celebration,  I baked persimmon bread.  Today I went and got vanilla bean ice cream for it even though it has been freezing and raining!

So here is the family recipe I promised I get to my cousin so she could make some more memories with her family.

Persimmon Bread

Cream together:     1 Cup shortening (I have always used butter)

                               2 Cups sugar

Beat in:                   2 eggs

Add:                       2 Cups persimmon pulp

Sift and add:          3 1/2 Cups sifted flour

                               2 tsp. baking soda

                               2 tsp. cinnamon

                               1 tsp. ground cloves

                               1/2 tsp. salt

Beat together

Add:                        2 Cups raisins or dates

                                2 Cups chopped nuts

                                (I prefer my bread without nuts or raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two loaf pans and fill with batter.  Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.  Test by inserting toothpick in center of bread.  Bread is done when the toothpick comes out clean.

Sorry I don't have a picture for the bread and ice cream.  I am too cold after eating it to get out the camera!

Spiritual Renewal and Banana Bread Recipe

With all the storms renewing the planet with water we decided to take the small break between storms to head to the Sacramento for our own spiritual renewal and to drink from some refreshing living water. This is the Sacramento Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is located in Rancho Cordova. It was cold and gray outside but warm and peaceful inside. We were there for about two hours but I wished I could stay there all day. It was good to have the opportunity to have a break from the outside world for a little while and take some needed time to ponder and meditate on the changes in store for us. It was a little hard making the two hour drive down and back and having to come back to the real world. I must be tired because I overcooked my flan.

Speaking of baking, here is the recipe for the bread I made during the power outage. This is from an old book I think my mom got in Home Economics in Junior High. It's called, Let's Cook with Gail and was published in 1961.

Banana (Nut) Bread

1/2 cup shortening (my mother and I have always used butter, yum!)
t teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 bananas, mashed (use very ripe, they mash easier and have more flavor for the bread)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (you can omit this if using salted butter or margarine)
1 1/2 tablespoons sour milk or buttermilk (we never seemed to have this on hand and would put some lemon juice in the milk)
1 cup chopped nuts (we used to use walnuts until I started getting canker sores from them)

Start the oven at 350 degrees
Grease a loaf pan, 9 by 5 by 3 inches
Cream the shortening, lemon juice and sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy, and very well mixed. Beat the eggs in a small bowl, and add to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Mash the bananas with a fork, in the same bowl you used to beat the eggs (this cuts down on dishes but I always find it easier to mash the bananas on a plate).
Sift the flour, soda, baking soda, baking powder and salt together, and add half to the first mixture. Stir to mix well. Add the sour milk, and mix. Then add th3e rest of the flour, and mix well, but do not over beat. Add the nutmeats and stir.
Pour into greased loaf pan and bake about 1 hour in 350 degree oven.
Cool about 15 minutes, then remove from pan to cool on rack (run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen if you have any trouble getting the bread out).
Slice thinly with a sharp knife.
This bread is easier to slice when completely cool (if you can wait), and tastes even better the second day after baking (if there is any left).

We like to eat this bread a couple of different ways: hot out of the oven with butter or a scoop of french vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream or toasted with butter or cream cheese. I can't believe we ate all the other banana bread. My mouth is watering now, the flan is hot and can't be eaten until tomorrow and there are not other baked goodies to eat. Besides, I'm ready for a good night's rest soon.

Alternative Power and Baking

Winds were gusting at 60 to 80 miles per hour and transformers and power lines were going down everwhere. We lost our power for good at about 8:00 am and still don't have any this morning. Thank goodness for the generator. We didn't plug in to it until late afternoon when my husband finally took pity on my internet withdrawals. Before that I kept busy baking by candlelight. I made a super yummy banana bread recipe from my mom. I'll post the recipe later. I'm too lazy to get out from under my nice warm blankets to go and get it.



The banana bread was delicious and I ate way too much of it. It was especially good with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream. All in all the day was a very interesting one. Being cooped up in the house with no power gives you a chance to spend time on things you might not otherwise take time for. I had a lot of family time with my husband and son. I brought one of the rabbits in from his outside pen that was too exposed so we had a bunny hopping around which entertained the cats. I took a drive with my husband and took a lot of low res photos and learned how to turn them into an animation using Photoshop Image Ready. But I need a new computer. Mine had to work too hard to crunch the info. I could then use Photoshops CS3 which uses animation right in the program instead of jumping over to image ready which I'm using with my CS version. And I am so impatient.

In the late afternoon the rain let up and the sun peaked through for about 15 minutes so we ran outside to do some damage assessment and reinforcements but nothing major. Then we took a drive downtown to take a walk with all the other people to see the downed trees and leaf and limb litter everywhere. It was kind of earie because there was no
power or lights anywhere and none of the businesses where open.


I'm still running on the generator today and I've got to get back to work and not be lazy all day. I need to get out into the pottery studio and put handles on the batter bowls and uncover the heart bowls so that I can get them going for Valentines Day. The weather reports say we wont have as much wing with the next system but it is supposed to get colder and snow levels will be dropping. We may even see a few flakes of it on the valley floor here in Chico. Have great day and be happy.
Kelly

Storm, Wind ,Rain, in Northern California

I was warm and cozy in bed when I woke to the sound of the wind howling and the rain being flung against the windows outside. I was still in that sleep paralysis mode but flip opened the laptop on the nightstand to check the weather on NOAA.
This link will show you the current weather in the Sacramento Valley. It's crazy out there. No sooner did I get the laptop open and my husband peeked in and saw me and said, "Hey, I need some help out here." So I jumped up, threw on my ski pants, jacket an extra hat and my waterproof Hi-Tec hiking boots and went running outside into the storm. We have a thin wall on one side of our carport where we store the bisqued pottery ready to be glazed and the wall was peeling of in the wind. We screwed that on and saw the flash of a transformer blowing out in the distance . My fingers were starting to go numb so I ran around the place to take a quick look at the rabbits and to make sure nothing else was giving out.....Eeeeck the power went out and I was about to unplug everything when it came back on and the computer started powering back up. I decided to take the chance to let it warm back up so I could finish this post. I am a bit nervous about the weather and the power going out again so I think I'll sign off, go make breakfast and snuggle in for some scripture reading, baking and movie watching. I re-rented Mirror Mask which should be fun. If my laptop has enough battery power I may play with Photoshop.

Have a great day and stay safe.