First Snowfall
An early taste of Winter came on the 18th and we stayed inside to watch the grey swirling of large wet snowflakes. Only traces remained by the next morning. In a strong effort to ignore the weather, we've enjoyed the first seasons of two tv series: Dexter and True Blood. Both were based on novels and a thrill to watch. Julian finished playing Wall-e and is on the third disk of Lost Odyssey. I've been temporarily diverted into the second installation of Sam and Max and also World of Goo. The later is a quirky, highly addictive and humerous physics based stacking game.
Experimental cordials have been appearing. I found a supply company, Mountain Rose Herbs, and stocked up on some essentials: bay leaves, whole nutmeg, angelica root, hibiscus flower, hyssop, anise seeds, rose hips, star anise and caraway. We sweetened and already consumed the disappointingly small yield from our almond liqueur. The infusion did succeed in obtaining an apricotty nutty flavor but trying to separate the alcohol from soggy nut powder by successive strainings through kitchen paper was tedious. Three possible solutions involve hand chopping the almonds instead of using the food processor, separating off any resulting dust before use, and racking rather than straining. In any case, the nuts themselves were stashed in the freezer and some already found a home on a mincemeat tart*. Next we made a batch of a Kummel-esque caraway liqueur. Intrestingly, the aromatics (caraway, fennel, aniseed, coriander and angelica root) are infused into a simmering sugar syrup that is then topped with vodka. Although requiring more supplies than the minimalist Limoncello, this cordial also had a good yield and soul warming flavor for little effort. Our fourth attempted recipe was Liqueur of Love; a honey sweetened spice infusion of cardamom, star anise, cloves, rose hips, and hibiscus flowers is currently resting on orange peels to mellow into a final heady and lustful flavor.
In the kitchen, our dinners have been creative and ethnically diverse, ranging from Indonesian rendang curry to Portuguese Octopus roasted in red wine, from humble Cajun gumbo to haute bearnaise sauce on beef tenderloin tournedos, and maltese sauce over salmon. Last weekend we invited Naomi and Bryan over and all tucked into a dreamy fish pie of fresh haddock, smoked haddock, shrimp and bay scallops with a lemon pie for dessert. We've also been experimenting to find the perfect cake for our pumpkin tin and so far Nigella's moist lemon almond cake is the winner. Our first batches of Biscotti were a huge sucess and a new after dinner favorite paired with a foamy caffe macchiato.
Halloween is this weekend and we haven't decided if we're heading to Salem for the big bash or staying at home for a more traditional horror movie marathon and chocolate O.D. We carved a large pumpkin when Liz was visiting but it didn't last for the date. Instead, we have a small "We Be Little" gourd sized pumpkin from a chuch sale up the road to fend off evil spirts.
*I think that it is highly appropriate to create a tradition whereby the first mincemeat pie of the season is eaten immediately following the first snowfall.
Experimental cordials have been appearing. I found a supply company, Mountain Rose Herbs, and stocked up on some essentials: bay leaves, whole nutmeg, angelica root, hibiscus flower, hyssop, anise seeds, rose hips, star anise and caraway. We sweetened and already consumed the disappointingly small yield from our almond liqueur. The infusion did succeed in obtaining an apricotty nutty flavor but trying to separate the alcohol from soggy nut powder by successive strainings through kitchen paper was tedious. Three possible solutions involve hand chopping the almonds instead of using the food processor, separating off any resulting dust before use, and racking rather than straining. In any case, the nuts themselves were stashed in the freezer and some already found a home on a mincemeat tart*. Next we made a batch of a Kummel-esque caraway liqueur. Intrestingly, the aromatics (caraway, fennel, aniseed, coriander and angelica root) are infused into a simmering sugar syrup that is then topped with vodka. Although requiring more supplies than the minimalist Limoncello, this cordial also had a good yield and soul warming flavor for little effort. Our fourth attempted recipe was Liqueur of Love; a honey sweetened spice infusion of cardamom, star anise, cloves, rose hips, and hibiscus flowers is currently resting on orange peels to mellow into a final heady and lustful flavor.
In the kitchen, our dinners have been creative and ethnically diverse, ranging from Indonesian rendang curry to Portuguese Octopus roasted in red wine, from humble Cajun gumbo to haute bearnaise sauce on beef tenderloin tournedos, and maltese sauce over salmon. Last weekend we invited Naomi and Bryan over and all tucked into a dreamy fish pie of fresh haddock, smoked haddock, shrimp and bay scallops with a lemon pie for dessert. We've also been experimenting to find the perfect cake for our pumpkin tin and so far Nigella's moist lemon almond cake is the winner. Our first batches of Biscotti were a huge sucess and a new after dinner favorite paired with a foamy caffe macchiato.
Halloween is this weekend and we haven't decided if we're heading to Salem for the big bash or staying at home for a more traditional horror movie marathon and chocolate O.D. We carved a large pumpkin when Liz was visiting but it didn't last for the date. Instead, we have a small "We Be Little" gourd sized pumpkin from a chuch sale up the road to fend off evil spirts.
*I think that it is highly appropriate to create a tradition whereby the first mincemeat pie of the season is eaten immediately following the first snowfall.