New Year's greetings to everyone from chilly northeasternmost Illinois.
If it's January 1 it's time for my Annual Reckoning. The condensed version: I used more and bought less than last year. The details are here:
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You'll also see my last quilting project for 2008: the RCTQ BOM from 2005.
The big change for us is that DH retired in December. After 20 years of a commuter marriage we are living together. The move itself was this past week: we packed on Sunday, the movers packed more and loaded Monday, and they delivered on Tuesday. Some things were given away (a sofa and a twin bed); some things were left behind (another twin bed, a mismatched dining room chair); a lot was put into storage (boxes and boxes of books, two more twin beds, and more); and a lot was brought into the already-pretty-full house. There are boxes in the living room and the dining room with things to take to the storage unit. The pantry and refrigerator are overflowing. I've been on vacation the past two weeks, so it's all somewhat surreal. Reality and establishing a new routine won't kick in until I return to work next Monday.
May we all enjoy a fiber-filled 2009!
Nann who has the Hoppin' John already made and who did the laundry yesterday
Hi Nann! That latest project is fantastic ... the outer space fabric is the perfect choice for the background. It unifies the sampler blocks and makes each one shine. Question about your sewing room: what is that quilting set up I see there? A Handi Quilter or such? Inquiring minds want to know! Best wishes in this next phase of your life. PAT Virginia
Gosh, Nann, what a very clever idea to use your background fabric in such a way that most of the blocks appear to have holes in. When I next do a block quilt, I hope you don't mind if I 'pinch' that idea. I love the effect. Good luck with the new routine. . In message , Nann writes
As of mid-November I own a MegaQuilter and Inspira frame, which I purchased from a friend. Part of the price came with delivery (her husband) and set up (herself). I used it to quilt five tops thus far. I'd like to try the MQ on its own, without the frame, but I'm afraid I would never be able to get it back onto the frame carriage properly.
I have a HQ frame, the original, still in its box if anyone is interested. I bought it from someone who had never used it. I got as far as opening the box and that was it.
Nann wondering if the RCTQ BOM project continued beyond 2005
Pat: I think part of the charm of Nann's quilt is not just that she used the background fabric to set the quilt. I think an important element is the fabric itself. So, when you give this style a try, do be sure to have a real interesting background fabric and use other pieces that POP! Then, send me the quilt for inspection. :) Happy New Year from your American namesake, PAT in VA/USA
I did the Hoppin John and it is killer good. First, there was an in-depth survey so see whose secret ingredient was worth a try. The nominees were: dry mustard, Worcestershire or allspice. I tried the first two and might give allspice a go in '10. Polly
"Nann" who has the Hoppin' John already made and who did the laundry
Ah, PAT, you do well to remind me to use a 'popping' fabric - you know too well my conservative nature and usual choice of fabrics >g< . In message , Pat in Virginia writes
Polly: I didn't make "Authentic" Hoppin' John, but did come up with a fantastic variation this time. I used canned Black Eyed Peas, stirred in crumbled cooked bacon and Curry Ketchup (a German product) plus some salt and pepper. We had that for supper, along with Pork Chops and Sauerkraut. My third 'lucky food for the new year' was Herring filets (at lunch, not with supper!) I wanted to cover all the bases! LOL Pat, wishing good stitches to the RCTQ community
Hoppin' John is a traditional southern dish, served on New Years for good luck. It is made with black-eyed peas, and usually a ham hock as well. I grew up with my mom always serving it on New Years day, and have continued the tradition for my family. I imagine from Polly's post, there are many ways to make it your own. I never thought of adding the mustard, etc to the mix. I may try it myself next year!!
No recipe for this one in my Floyd's American Pie cookbook. Do you have one to share, or is this one of those things like my mum's mince & tatties: every family does it their own way?
Kate, it's basically beans and rice. Soak the black-eyed peas for several hours (or overnight). Drain and rinse. When you're ready to cook 'em: add fresh water, some chunks of salt pork (or a ham hock). Cook until just about nearly practically done. Add raw rice. The rice will absorb water.
All quantities are "as much as you want," keeping in mind that it cooks up to a lot. I used 1 c black-eyed peas and 1 c rice this time.
Add in: spinach or collard greens to symbolize money. Also good "con queso" -- with cheese: grate cheddar and sprinkle it over the top, allow to melt before serving. (Come to think of it, the gold cheese could also symbolize money.) And a spoonful of mild jalapeno pepper could be good, too.
I've been poking about, and the only ingredients that seem to be consistent are the beans, rice, onion, and ham hock/bacon! All good peasant foods, and a nice easy one pot wonder! I can see me adding in a little spice and something green like Savoy cabbage. It seems to have something in common with an original Boston Baked beans recipe I have (which is very similar, but sans rice and with the addition of a small quantity of molasses), and my own Ham & Green Pea Soup.
As a swapsie, here's the soup recipe:
Take a large rolled and boned smoked gamon or ham joint - 4-6lbs. Put in a lage pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and discard the water...
Then add a couple of pints of good strong cider to the pot with the ham in. Top up with fresh water and add a good handful of pickling spice. I make my own like this:
Take two 4" cinamon sticks, and twist and crush by hand into smallish chunks... Pop in a large jar. Add several chunks of crumbled mace: about a desert spoonful altogether. Add a handful each of black pepper corns, cloves, and coreander seeds, and a little less of fenugreek seeds, plus a teaspoon or two of crushed dried chillies. Shake the whole lot up. A nice generous handful will do a good sized ham joint.
To your ham pot also add a heaped tablespoon of Muscovado sugar.
Bring the ham through the boil and simmer gently until done (takes a couple or three hours).
Serve the ham hot with mustard sauce made with some of the liquor*. Reserve the rest for the soup...
Soak a kilo of dried green split peas or whole peas in water over night. Drain and rinse. Cook them in the ham stock until mushy! Shove through a blender until seriously blitzed to a smooth cream... If the soup isn't thick enough, you can thicken it with a little potato flour. If it's too thick, slacken it off with a little water...
Chop up about half a pound of the ham into small bits and add back to the soup. You can also garnish it with a few handfuls of fresh or frozen peas if you like. Serve with hot fresh rolls.
My friend Pauline's Mum Lilian used to serve hers with little herby dumplings. You'd get a vat of soup with two or three golfball sized dumplings in it. Yumm!
Be warned: it isn't a nice pleasant green colour, despite the name. It's more a sort of khaki swamp colour... Looks like something Shrek would enjoy! ;)
My son is infinitely inventive in his rude comments about this soup, which tends to thicken up over night. It can then be dolloped out in lumps. He once said you needed to hammer it flat before eating it. He has also declared that you could serve it in a basket, or put it in a sandwich... I dare say it has something of the character of pease pudding, though you cannot quite cut it in slices.
*Mustard sauce:
1 pint of ham stock
2 tablespoons of crab apple jelly
2 heaped teaspoons cornflour
1 teacup of milk
1 very heaped teaspoon wholegrain Dijon mustard
Bing the ham stock to the boil and melt the jelly in it. Turn down to a simmer... Cream the cornflour into the milk and add to the ham and jelly. Keep stirring until it thickens. Add the mustard and stir in vigerously. You should end up with a creamy sauce of a slightly pinkish colour, with dots in! It should be about as thick as thick gravy...
Coo! If you count carefully, you got THREE ecipes here! ;)
Hi Kate, since I tend to be lazy I first cook instant rice and set it aside. Open a can of black eye peas and cook them 10 or so minutes with a pat of butter. Dish up the hot rice and put the peas on top. With the Hoppin John I also have a dish of a green vegetable, maybe green beans, and maybe carn bread and a desert of some kind. Barbara in FL
Okay, Kate. You've seen 'easy'. My own is a minor production. I don't use the bacon fat some use and don't use a ham hock either. We have to be very careful here about fat. I soak a pound of dried black-eyed peas in about 4 cups of chicken broth (with any fat spooned out) overnight. Do NOT drain. In a little canola oil, I cook about ½ cup of diced onion and ½ cup diced celery while the peas are coming to a boil. When the onion and celery are looking clear (but not browned), I add them to the peas along with some garlic powder, a hefty bit of black pepper, one teaspoon of Worcestershire and one teaspoon of dry mustard. Reduce heat, cover and gently cook until the peas are tender adding water if necessary. You'll notice I didn't add any salt - this time it didn't seem needed. Wouldn't you suspect that the chicken broth and the Worcestershire were salty enough? Other additions I've seen are a can of beer, a can of RoTel, allspice or Tabasco. We serve Hoppin' John with hush puppies - another minor production and good, good, good. Polly
Leave out the garlic powder and saute some fresh garlic along with the onions. Leave out the mustard (household sensitivities, which are a pain when making pickles) and use a whole dried hot pepper which is taken out before serving instead, and you pretty much have mine. Only I use faux chicken stock of course. I put smoked soy bits on the table for those that want the smokey flavor in theirs, and that suits most.
I put it on the table with cornbread and greens.
On that note I have to say I am not especially impressed with the quality of corn meal that I am able to get lately. The only thing we see regularly in anything bigger than a one pound box anymore is Aunt Jemima, and that just doesn't suit me. I think it is overground, almost polenta instead of proper meal. Being overground means it goes stale awfully fast, not oxidised stale, but dried out stale. Plus the texture of my cornbread just isn't right with it, and it comes out over dry to the point of crumbley. I have to meddle with my recipe and that annoys. And just try making mush out of it! It comes out like baby cereal, and it doesn't hold the butter at all. So I can pay twice as much for better quality in smaller containers, _if_ I can find it, or try and sort out this inferior meal. I am thinking awfully hard about mailordering five pounds of cornmeal from the place we buy wheat gluten and soy bits from, just to see if it is better. Flat fee shipping from Cucamonga might end up less expensive in the long view. Though it somehow seems morally reprehensible to mailorder corn meal from California.
NightMist start>Okay, Kate. You've seen 'easy'. My own is a minor production. I don't use
'Round here we call it black-eyed peas; this ain't the South. A couple of cans of Trappey's or Bush's black-eyed peas, gotta' have some jalapeños in it, serve w/ bacon or sausage. Best cornbread around:
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It's black-eyed peas, for goodness' sake! ;-D Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
Over this way, polenta comes in various grades from almost as coarse as couscous to fine as cornflour. I have some sort of 'medium' grade that I used once before for a cornbread experiment. Must dig that out and try again... I can also get cornmeal from various places, in kilo bags. Seems daft that I can probably get it more easily than you.
Nightmist I dunno what happened to your posts, but I can only see these two filtered through Sandy's! Never mind, at least I saw them. :)
When I'm doing veggie stuff I tend to leave out all meat subs. I dislike soy mince and tofu, and prefer a wholly veggie approach rather than mock meat. That's just me being fussy, mind. And inconsistent as I do occasionally use Quorn.
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