Oh for crying out loud - a tornado warning? Now?

I think I'm entirely justified in feeling that I shouldn't have to worry about tornadoes in Ohio in January. Yet I just received a text message from my local news station telling me there is a tornado warning in effect until 4:00 AM. Pfft.

Carry Wine in Style

How to make a wine bottle carrier from a furoshiki (or a large square scarf.)

65 Degrees in January

I did not call in sick today, though it was awfully difficult not to with the weather being such a temptress. I managed to get out of the office once for a brisk walk in the parking lot (five times around the building equals one mile.) I left the office early and dashed over to Sharon Woods to get in a quick walk around the lake before dark. I was nearly caught speeding in my car past a park patrol officer, but slowed down in time to escape notice. Which is a good thing, because getting a speeding ticket for being in a hurry to take a walk would be really embarrassing.

Yesterday I cooked a nice casserole, which I brought for lunch today. I received the recipe in an email from Vegetarian Times. It's called Three Sisters Casserole (it needs a hot chili or two in the filling) and the name is derived from the staple Native American crops of corn (or maize), beans and squash. The corn was planted in a small mound and would serve as a living pole for the support of the bean vines while the squash grew at the base, its large leaves acting as living mulch to keep out weeds.

I never stopped to wonder why the corn I see in the Ohio fields these years is not as tall as the corn I saw on my way to school in the sixties and seventies. I had assumed it was the usual distortion of time and age, a product of me remembering the corn as taller than it actually was. But according to Bill Bryson, the corn grown today in the Midwest today is a shorter and better producing hybrid. I've never been to a corn maze, but I wonder if the farmers who create them grow the old ten foot tall varieties of corn especially for their labyrinths.

Forecast: Dreary

Winter seed heads
Originally uploaded by lilysecret42

It's amazing how much just getting outside can lift my spirits. I felt sluggish and kind of blue when I woke this morning, but I put on my backpack and boots, grabbed my camera and headed outside anyway. I walked about two and a half miles around Glenwood Gardens, got a few good snaps and was entirely revitalized by the time I got home.

Tonight I made Sunchokes, otherwise known as Jeruselum Artichokes for the first time. They are a knobbly tuber from a type of sunflower. They are hard to peel because of their irregular shape and though some websites advised not peeling them at all, I thought the skin was too unappealing to leave in place. So I boiled a pound of them in their skins for about 25 minutes until I could poke a fork in easily, let cool, peeled, sliced and put them in an oiled pie dish. Then I sprinkled them with a quarter cup of Parmesan cheese, dotted with butter and baked at 400 degrees for twenty minutes until the cheese was a bit browned.

They were really good; a lot like potato but with a faint artichoke flavor. I'll definitely bring them home again.

Sweeny Todd

I went to see Sweeny Todd today, finally. I thought it was excellent, with outstanding performances by both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Who knew they could sing? The cinematography was just gorgeous. It was also exceptionally bloody and I had to watch many scenes through my fingers.

I remember my Mum telling me the story of Sweeny Todd when I was little, but I never knew the entire story. I decided to research that today and I found the Sweeny Todd was not a legend, which I had assumed, but a true series of events. There is a multi-chapter article detailing the strange case of Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street over at TruTV Crime Library and it's well worth reading.

ETA: Or Sweeny Todd is actually a fictional character. At least Wikipedia seems to think so. I need to do more research, but not tonight. Fact or fiction, it's still a great story.

Origami - practical applications

Today I learned how to close a chip bag without a clip or rubber band. Now that's useful.







But what is with that music?

Sailing? In January?

In the town of Beer, Devon, England
Originally uploaded by lilysecret42

I registered for a sailing class today! It will take place in May; with three hours classroom and three hours hands-on out at Brookville Lake. I'm very excited. I've wanted to learn something about sailing for years but the opportunity never presented itself.

I found the advert in Craig's List and made up my mind to take the class in about two minutes. I didn't know there was anyone offering classes locally. Hueston Woods has some rentals of little Sunfish, so I may actually get a chance to practice what I learn this summer.

Yes, what I really need is another expensive hobby.

What does one call the day after New Year's Day? Wednesday, I suppose...

Today was my first day back at the office after twelve days of vacation. It was 8 F / -13 C degrees outside and it had snowed overnight when I opened my eyes this morning. It took every shred of will power I possess to get dressed and head out into that weather. Calling in sick seemed like such a nice option.

I made a Swiss chard and goat cheese frittata (it was very good) for dinner tonight, and it got me thinking about why chard is called "Swiss" in this country. I did a couple of searches on it and found a couple of contradictory answers. All that was agreed upon was that it is not Swiss, but Mediterranean in origin. I came across a Fordhook variety of chard on the web though, and that got me thinking about Fordhook lima beans. I assumed there must be a connection and it turns out the Fordhook Farm, Doylestown, PA was owned by one W. Atlee Burpee, founder of the now famous Burpee Seed Company. The large, fat lima bean discovered and developed by Burpee sometime around 1900 still bears the name of the farm today (although they are called butter beans in the south.) So that's what I learned today, boys and girls.

Swiss chard is a nutritional powerhouse though; check out its fan page over at The World's Healthiest Foods.

Before I go to bed

The Good Luck Soup turned out to be all kinds of awesome. Yum. I made the following changes to the recipe:

• I sauteed the vegetables in olive oil until soft and beginning to brown, before adding the stock and the beans.
• I didn't have dried chilies so I used cayenne instead, about a teaspoon's worth.
• I certainly didn't add any extra salt - it was salty enough from the ham hock.

Note to self: your money is in stitches.

Happy New Year!

Brilliant fungi
Originally uploaded by lilysecret42

I photographed this lovely fungi last week while on a hike in the North Carolina Arboretum. According to Peterson's Field Guide to Mushrooms, it is called Witches' Butter (Tremella mesenterica.) It grows on wood throughout North America and is supposed to be edible, though I'm not inclined to try this one.

Right. That's what I learned today.

Happy New Year!
May you live well
Laugh often
Love much in 2008

ETA: I also learned that House Foods Tofu Steak is really not good. I'm rather fond of tofu but this was no winner.
I also learned that okra is really high in vitamin C. I had no idea.