Roasted veggies & Egg on whole wheat ciabatta

I used zucchini, bell peppers, onions, and string beans (I did the carrots on the side), but all with olive oil spray and Penzey's Forward spice blend.

I'm thinking a frittata with the leftover veggies might be in order for lunch tomorrow!

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Baked zucchini chips!

Mmm, picture's a little out of focus, but they were very tasty!

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Cordially Yours: Vodka gimlets, ahoy!

I'm not entirely sure where I saw it, but I read a wonderful article about making cordials, and decided to put up some of my own. It probably helped that my local produce store was selling large bags of key limes for 99¢! (See the spots? That's why they were cheap, but there's nothing wrong with them.)

I put 2 cups of sugar in a clean, washed canning jar, added the zest of about a dozen, and the peel of one (I wanted just a touch of the bitterness the pith will give), a few tablespoons of chopped crystallized ginger, and the juice of about 1.5 lbs of key limes (about 15-18 "regular" limes, depending on size. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved in the juice.

For the unleaded, you then add 1/4 teaspoon citric acid & distilled water to just about 1 inch from the rim. Secure the lid tightly and put it in the refrigerator. Steep it for 24-36 hours, strain through a sieve or chinois into a clean, non-reactive container (glass is best). Store in the fridge, too. The Internet says it will last about a month.

For the leaded (yay!), you then add a good, but not expensive, vodka to just about 1 inch from the rim. Secure the lid tightly and put it in the pantry. Visit it once a day, and shake it to make sure the sugar is staying dissolved. After about a month, strain through a sieve or chinois into a clean, non-reactive container (glass is best). The Internet says to continue to store it in the pantry and that it will only get better with time.

The collective wisdom suggest that an alcoholic cordial put up now would be best around the winter holidays. Nom, nom!

(I put a half cup less sugar in my leaded version, because I like a more sour taste.)

I also put up some Peach Cordial- one leaded, one unleaded. I used 1.5 C sugar, lemon zest, juice of half a lemon, and diced local peaches. The remaining process was the same.

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Mo Ionar

This is the progress of my ionar, a piece of outerwear from the 7th-9th cen CE in Ireland. I'm trying to construct a full ensemble for my SCA persona, a 850-900 CE Irish woman living outside the Viking colonized areas. Some of the information that follows may be overkill; it's a rough draft for documentation when/if I submit this for a SCA arts & sciences event.

I have had this fabric for a while, and knew I wanted to do something dramatic and fairly extravagant with it. It's woven, wool & silk, and has great color, but the weave is lightweight enough to suit Gleann Abhann's weather. I believe I either got it from fabric.com or plumridgesilk.com


[background rough documentation ensues, feel free to skip ahead: The evidence for the ionar is sparse at best, but it is mentioned in both of the best-regarded sources for early period Irish clothing research. When also compared with the Kentish woman's overdress (in cloth and Clothing of Anglo-Saxon England), the open-fronted overdress of Anglo-Saxon women (as mentioned in Early Dress of Anglo-Saxon England), and the portrait of Mary in the Book of Kells, it seemed appropriate to make the Ionar na Mná (woman's ionar) as an open-fronted overdress. This also seemed ideal when considering the fabric chosen, as it the materials and colors would have been a display of visible wealth, and therefore reserved for occasions for display.]

After reading Finnacan Dub's guide, I also consulted the SCA-Garb list, as to whether I should include all the gores used in constructing t-tunics the "period way." Given their advice, I initially constructed it with just the side gores. That proved not to give me the (for lack of a better word) "swing" needed to go over the full skirts of the leine. So, after I looked at the construction pictures of Rebecca Mörk's Viking coat (site not in English), I decided that a back center gore was in order.


So, I narrowed the side gores, and, using the "waste not, want not" principal of period fabric use, decided to use that reclaimed fabric as my center gore. While frustrating, I think this was a great "in-period" exercise, because garments must have been altered and repaired in similar fashion.


Here it is after the main construction. I machine basted everything, but all of the exterior is finished by hand. The bottom hem is currently unfinished, as are the sleeves. I actually plan to narrow the sleeves once I try it on over my other garb to see how wide they need to be. There will be edging embroidery and an appliqué band.



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Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Using this recipe (http://tinyurl.com/SkinnytasteBlackBeanBurgers), which I doubled, I made 8 lovely burgers which are currently resting in the freezer.


And after, at lunch!


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Ubi, o ubi...

Where have I been since the epic cake of epicness?

Teaching a summer class, I'm afraid. But not to worry, homemade black bean burgers and spicy mayo are happening tonight! Pictures will be taken!


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Birthday Cake

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