Tea, its possible to get it right (partial repost)

This was posted yesterday on Stand Firm.

I'm thrilled that seminary education in America is FINALLY getting down to basics. 

Anyway, it reminded me of some early brilliance on my blog, a post I called 'Manifesto'. Here is the meat of it.

Matt’s must be brewed and hot as he is waking up, so it is timed (at home the beans are ground at 3:55am and the hot water hits the newly ground beans at 3:57 and he pours his first cup at 4am exactly. On occasion I forget to put the pot back in place the night before and the coffee brews all over the floor). Can’t imagine what it would be like if he didn’t have his coffee in the morning. May God, in his mercy, preserve us.

I don’t drink coffee. I only drink coffee under duress and when it is heavily laced with chocolate. So of course, when I met Matt’s family for the first time, and the awful truth came out, the household was thrown into mayhem. In the intervening years various efforts have been made. Matt’s parents now own a total of 5 teapots. They have an unheard of variety of teas. On our arrival, there is always half and half, cream, three kinds of milk and bottled water on hand. And, very importantly, there is in residence a new and efficient hotpot.

The trouble, of course, is that this is a nation of coffee drinkers. The fabric of national identity and purpose is woven through and supported by coffee. The drinking of coffee and the mishandling of tea is a point of pride, an under-girding means by which the people of this great land continue to live.

And so it is impossible to get a decent cup of tea unless one makes it oneself. And here is the source of the real trouble. As one drinker of tea in a land of coffee, I inspire real fascination and curiosity. Women especially think, ‘oh, that’s so cute, we should have a tea party.’ By which they mean a tea pot with tepid water, a bag on the side, a wedge of lemon (or something), some ‘cute’ cups and a cookie. And then we all sit around and talk and feel cozy. There are books to go with this experience. I saw one today called ‘A Cup of Comfort’ and a couple of other soupy looking items.

Well, all you fascinated and curious coffee drinkers, That Is Not a Cup of Tea.

First of all, tea Like Coffee, provides caffeine. Tea Drinkers drink it to survive, not to feel ‘cozy’.

Second, it has to be prepared properly (see below).

Third, drinkers of tea already have everything they need—pot, cups, cozy, hot pot and Tea. Giving a tea drinker a lot of fancy fluffy paraphernalia is a nice thought but probably misguided. For example, knowing that I drink tea, Matt and I were given a total of ten tea pots at our wedding. No dishes, no tableware, no household items (well, a few very lovely things) but really, overall Tea Pots. And almost 20 tea cups. Even though I was already properly equipped at the time of my marriage owning a sensible pot and cups to go with it.

So, here is how to make a cup of tea.

Fill a tea kettle or hot pot with cold water. Turn it on. Let it come right up to the boil. Take it off. Pour some blazing hot water into a pot. Swirl it around. Let the pot become good and hot. Put the kettle back on. Dump the water out of the pot. Put in the tea (loose, of course, is best, but don’t be above a good bag—At Least Two for a full sized pot, probably more if it’s bad tea). When the Kettle is back up to the boil, pour it directly onto the tea. Clap the lid on Immediately (don’t leave the lid across the room and wander around looking for it while the tea becomes cold). Put a cozy on the pot or wrap it in a couple of kitchen towels. Let it sit for about 3 minutes. Drink it. Either with milk or milk and sugar or lemon. Whatever you do, don’t heat water a little bit and the pour it on a bag in a cup. If you’re going to do that just go ahead and drink water.

Thursday on the Links

As I begin to type it occurs to me that I have not dealt with the mass of pictures on my computer proving that we did, in fact, camp and that we did, if fact, have a good time. I need to post them because everybody who has asked and been told that 'it was great!' begins to look crosswise and clearly doesn't believe.

That being the case, I did just want to point out this. Matt and I watched as much of it as we could bear and then I had strange and unpleasant dreams. I know all the chit chat has been about there being many many fewer people there than planned for, but may the Almighty preserve me, if I had been suckered into going, I would have had to sneak out the back within just a few minutes of being there. Mid way through I was shouting, 'Just Pick Something!' Do you want to be Chinese? Then pick that. Scottish? By all means. Native American? Whatever. But pick something! There's no way that all the nations of the world are filling the pews of the Episcopal Church of So. Cal. I'm thinking, that for anyone who can manage to watch the whole thing (without skipping forward and then lying about it) and can offer the best and cleverest one liner, of sending along some kind of prize. I'm pretty sure no one would win because its so desperately unbearable to watch.

And so, as a balance of to the link above, I give you my favorite thing on youtube right now,


And now once more into the frey.

A number of unconnected somethings

It appears, although I'm not really awake enough to be sure, that the babies slept through the night, finally. (I've really got to stop calling them babies as we have a real one momentarily down our throats.) I'm pretty sure this is the case because I'm REALLY tired, like I got more sleep than I'm used to, tired.

Sooooo, I was thinking maybe I'd try to get up and sit in a chair and make the children learn something. I intend to make yogurt today, and bread, because on my little calendar I fussed around making for hours and hours instead of actually doing real work, it says 'Kitchen Day: Make bread and yogurt'. I read that somewhere. You should have a kitchen day and a laundry day and some other housekeeping stuff that I can't remember right now.

On a completely unrelated note, a very nice commenter wanted to know 10 reasons, or something, why we home school, and how we intend to prepare our children to deal in a pluralistic relativistic society. I'm not sure I can think of Ten Whole Reasons, maybe one or two. But it occurs to me that the answer depends on what you want to prepare your children for--in what manner do you want a child to engage with said pluralistic society? Do you agree with the basic pluralistic underpinnings and want your child to be comfortable and happy in such a society? Or do you disagree and want your child to combat pluralism or relativism?

It won't be any surprise to anyone that Matt and I want our children to be intellectually equipped to combat relativism. And so we're crafting our brief time with them as children in such a way that they have the tools to think through and engage with a world we hope they won't entirely agree with. We would be really sorry, I think, after all this work, if they decided they weren't interested in the fight. As Matt pointed out, this season of training is so important, and it is necessarily removed from the frey and heat of battle, but that's so they have the space to become equipped, not so they will never enter it.

The Other reasons I'm homeschooling (right now) is because
1. I really like my children
2. Its interesting and fun to be involved in what they're learning.
3. Its more stressful to put them on a bus (because I'm not a morning person) than to organize their entire education.
4. I Really Believe in Classical Education and there's not a school in Binghamton that provides this opportunity
5. I'd rather homeschool and make bread than be the church secretary and go to vestry.
6. We're going to try and build a pyramid this week and it would be really lame for me to have to do something like that by myself while my kids were at school and my husband looked on and assumed I'd lost my mind.
7. My children are learning to integrate learning with every day life.
8. Their primary relationships, right now, are with each other and not with a lot of other people I don't know very well, which is important because their brothers and sisters will be there always, but friends come and go.
9. We can take off and go to Nairobi at a moments notice and not worry about making up piles of work because we took it all with us.
10. Their social lives are more interesting and varied. Frankly, I find it very weird the way this culture divides everyone up by age. All the children have to be corralled by age, and when you get old enough, you either have to move to Florida (didn't Jerry Seinfeld say that?) or into a retirement community. Matt and I are already preparing our children for the fact that we intend to live with them. Unless they all turn out to be awful, in which case we'll have to revise our plans. (Honestly, I jest. I haven't made any plans for my retirement yet. I just want to keep all my options open.)

And now, I think I might be just slightly awake enough to remove myself from my pillow and see what Gladys has done to all the math blocks. I've been informed that she was 'building something'. Hopefully a pyramid.

Vegetable Soup

The children are clambering for pancakes. I probably should indulge them because I made them eat massive bowls of vegetable soup last night with tiny rolls of brown bread. And I carried their table into the backyard and made them eat it outside, watching from the window as they carefully ladled the soup onto the ground. I thought about running out and yelling at them, but they seemed to be so peaceful, spoonful by spoonful. But, then, they didn't get any dessert.

The soup was delicious though.
One big vat of stock.
A large bag of vegetables from Micah's wedding (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes) dumped right into the stock.
Salt and Pepper
Let the whole thing simmer for a couple of hours until everything is soft, delicious, melded together.

I still have a full container left in the fridge and I froze two more.

Crowd Pleasing Supper: Turkey Meatballs, Pasta and Broccoli

Turkey Meat Balls
1 pound ground turkey (although I am never going to buy only one pound again as it was all eaten and there are no leftovers, blast it all)
3 tbs breadcrumbs
1 tbs ground sage
1 egg
salt/pepper
mush the turkey, breadcrumbs and spices all together and roll into little bite sized balls, brown (I used my nice pancake pan and did them all at one go)
for the sauce
1 onion minced
2 tbs garlic infused olive oil (time saver)
3 large mushrooms diced
brandy (I didn't measure, I just sort of splashed it about)
butter
cream
1 cup stock
1 tbs flour
fresh sage
saute the onion in the garlic olive oil, add the mushrooms, fresh sage and sweat for another minute, add the browned meatballs and stock and let simmer for a while (about the time to put pasta in boiling water, madly chop up broccoli, kiss three screaming children who have been running laps and smacked into each other, answer the phone and pat the dog)
finish with a 2 tbs of butter, a liberal splash of cream, the flour to thicken, bring back to a boil and then pour it in a pretty bowl.

Broccoli
chopped up in no regular way, thrown in a pan with olive oil, butter, salt, as its browning and spitting, add a drizzle of cream and shove it in a bowl.

Romulus ate 7 meatballs, one after another without breathing, and the others finished them off while we talked about Pompeii, Mount St. Helen's and other things that blow up and burn (including John Huss), can you tell we're memorizing the Veritas/Classical Conversations Timeline?

And because its only 7pm and the children are ready for bed, all the laundry is done, the house is pristine, the kitchen is clean, and ice is raining from the sky All The Children are going to bed and Matt and I are going to finish our weekend bottle of wine in quiet and read to each other out of his new fantastic New International Commentary on the Old Testament. So Romantic.

A Day of Preparation

In preparation for tomorrow's Court Hearing, Matt is fasting and praying. And I am praying and making Christmas sugar cookies, donuts, hedgehog buns, and winter vegetable soup and we're watching Miracle on 34th Street. I know its Advent, but I decided to throw all solemnity to the wind and party all day.

Smatterings

And there goes another blog free week! Wow.
As I sit here, trying to gin up the moral fiber to shove two babies into clothes for their day out with their favorite people, and listening to the gentle whine of older children having to work when they don't want to, its hard to remember even what happened all week.

We did eat well.
Monday (or maybe Tuesday?) I made apple cake, apple dumplings, apple sauce and apple muffins.
Monday evening I made Curried Haddock and cauliflower. The haddock was so divine. I have no idea how to cook fish, really, so I liberally sprinkled it with breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, and generic curry powder, shoved it in a pan seriously filled with butter, let it go about a minute on both sides, lathered it with cream, let it go another minute and a half, sprinkled cilantro all over and then tried to resist eating half before it made it to the table. The cauliflower I also lathered in curry powder and steamed (well, I didn't really bother to steam it, I just put a little water in the bottom of the pan and put the lid on and cooked it desperately until it was tender). I quietly ate the cauliflower all by myself all week, without mentioning to Matt that there was any left.

The children, on the other hand, have been veritable pills. Tuesday, in the course of school, they (by that I mean E and A) both began to weep over the thought that they might have to someday leave home and go to college. I can't even remember how the subject came up. I'm flattered, of course. But I also have no idea how to explain to a six year old and a four year old that 1. college is a good thing (basically) 2. honestly, they don't have to go if they don't want to but now is not the time to make that decision and 3. what exactly college is and why so many people actually leave home to participate in it. I also had several moments of panic that they might never leave home.
E: I'm not ever going to leave you, mommy.
Me: I'm so glad to hear that. Do you think you might ever get married and have a family?
E: Of Course. I'll have a husband and 10 babies and we will live with you.
A: Me too.
Me: Oh, well, that will be cozy.

Thursday at 1:30am E woke up with a fever, woke up her sister also, and suckered me into sleeping on the end of her bed, baby in arm (isn't one a little early for all out temper tantrums in the middle of the night?). Needless to say we didn't do any school yesterday. A listened to the memory work cd all afternoon per his own request. E sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket and looked soulful and pale.

I doubt she'll be up for much today but thankfully the fever is gone.

And, of course, I'm very discouraged by this news. It doesn't make things at all good for the rest of us in the state of New York. So, I will be fighting that anxious thought done all day while I try to focus on this moment and the various piles of laundry and dishes it holds.

Oh!!!

And you eat the Birthday Peanut Sauce over Rice (not instant weird American rice-basmati is most preferable).

And its also very nice accompanied by a green salad, with Mango Cobbler for dessert, if you're looking for a whole menu.

Birthday Peanut Sauce

I've just wasted the last half hour combing through my blog archives looking for my peanut sauce recipe. I can't believe I have never posted it. But apparently not. I know I promised to post this Sunday Night and I'm Very Sorry. I came home Sunday to recline lavishly on the couch and watch E open vast arrays of presents. She received many things I have always longed for. She already has An American Girl Doll from her last birthday so this year she needed a large cabinet to store all the clothes, plus new outfits. I could list everything but its making me tired thinking about where we're going to put it all.

So here's the Peanut Sauce (enough for 20, half adults, half children. If you want to serve less people half everything But, its worth making a big vat and freezing it in smaller containers because its So Delicious).

One jar creamy natural peanut butter (No Sugar added! No nothing added if possible). I use smuckers because that's what we can get.
2 large onions
2 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger grated or 1 tablespoon powdered ginger
6 to 8 fresh tomatoes or 1 large can chopped or crushed tomato (no seasoning added)
4 to 8 cups of stock, depending on how soupy you want it
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 packages chicken (I use thighs usually, or I buy a whole chicken and dismember it myself. You can cut the chicken very small if you're feeding a lot of people, or you can put in large pieces. I used to brown the chicken before I put it in, but lately I haven't taken the time, and honestly, I can't taste the difference.)
Optional: liberal squeeze of fresh lime at the end, liberal addition of cream

sweat the onions, garlic and ginger with oil or butter
add the peanut butter and coat the onion
add the tomato paste and fresh or canned tomato
let it all blend together. Season with salt and pepper (and red pepper if you're not feeding children). Add the chicken and stock. Bring it all to a boil and let it simmer until thick and glorious, re-seasoning as necessary. This time I ran out of stock and actually added some whole milk to make up the difference and it was almost my best batch ever. Basically you want it very liquid at first and let it simmer down, thickening as it goes. Obviously, if you reside in Africa and can get your hands on some Sumbala (sp?) that would be perfect, but I have no idea how you would do that in America.

If you're attempting to make this and something here is unclear please do comment or email. This is our favorite family food, all my kids eat it, but given that its 'foreign' you'd want to get it right or you might give up (which would be so sad). On Sunday most everyone was very skeptical but then I had about 1/2 a cup left over.
Enjoy!

Baking and Thinking

Thank You So much, to all of you who have responded so kindly and encouragingly. I am wading through my email now, hoping to write most all of you back personally, and trying to write biographically in my head as I clean and
bake
Apple Muffin Fancy Breakfast
1 recipe Joy of Cooking full fat basic muffins
use 4 Tablespoons instead of 8 melted butter substituting apple sauce for the rest of the butter
liberally butter a square cake pan and fill it with the batter.
Carefully and lovingly lay paper thin slices of apple in even rows over the top,
liberally sprinkle brown sugar over the whole top
bake at 400
serve it with mounds of butter and Morning Prayer.

You can do this if your children are lithe and thin and not given over over to childhood obesity (we go easy on the butter with R, given the fatness of his stout legs and enormous tummy).

Still No Cord, But at Least This

Quote of the Week
"E's hair is pretty, but she's always mad at me."
"Why is she mad at you?"
"Because I ask to play with her and she says no and she says to me 'go away'. That's why she's always mad at me."


Left Over Supper-Zucchini and Tomato Pie
Thinly sliced tomato, zucchini, a measure of cream, pie crust (2 1/2 cups flour, 1 ts salt, 2 sticks butter, ice water, hand worked), thinly sliced feta, lots and lots of cheese grated on top, all layered together, in a 350 degree oven. Basically, I'm eating this pie all by myself slowly all week because Matt is too disciplined to eat pie, and its too delicious to waste on children.

Book trying to Struggle Through: Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis

A Guest Blogger!!!

My dear friend, Carrie, left a thoroughly mouthwatering message on my answering machine three days ago describing what she planned to make for dinner and asking if I had time for a movie, which I did not. However, the recipe bears a capacious audience. Here is Carrie.


I have been inspired by the "from a Monastery Kitchen" cookbook series. Indeed, Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila Latourette has made me believe that I too can make simple yet alluring dishes with a vague French influence. Merci, Brother Victor-Antoine. To this end, I attempted:

Crepes with Tomatoes, Herbs, and Goat Cheese Filling
What is not to like about this dish? I started to make it before rushing out to a movie, and then discovered that the crepe batter should chill. But, to make the batter, I used:
4 eggs (I had weirdly oversized eggs. I am sure Brother Victor-Antoine never had such engineered eggs. No, he undoubtedly pulls them fresh from the hen's nest. I used three instead of four)
2 Tbsp. veggie oil
1 ¼ C. flour (half white, half wheat – I'll felt healthier already)
3 C. milk
½ C. water
Butter, or oil, as needed

I made the crepes the next day with the help of a friend who did not laugh outwardly at my tragic first attempts at lovely golden crepes. I think that a) Brother Victor-Antoine did not use skim milk for his batter because he gets the milk directly from the cow and b) I needed to pour them a little thicker in the pan. By the end, we were flipping them with grace and vigor, and the last four crepes were lovely. Oh, and I used real butter, which felt decadent.

I filled them with chopped tomatoes, olive oil, fresh black olives (not those gross canned ones of my youth), minced garlic, crumbled goat cheese (so tasty!), chopped basil leaves (from the one basil plant I have managed not to kill), salt, and pepper. I could have added rosemary and thyme, but as they are $2 each per bunch at Wegman's, I am waiting to grow them myself. I mashed everything up with a fork and tasted it to make sure the herb mix was working.

I generously buttered a shallow white casserole dish which looked very French, and set my four beautiful crepes in, next to two or three ugly crepes. I forgot to cover them with aluminum foil because I stopped reading the recipe, but after 15-20 minutes in a 300 degree over, they were just fine.

I would say it was a good attempt, and I am willing to try it again. I think Brother Victor-Antoine would say that the process itself was important and meaningful and I should joyfully try again. I think I shall.

Jumbled Quiet Supper

Waiting up for Matt to get home from a long trip yesterday, I jumbled the following together in a saute pan and ate it with a vat of egg noodles

green onion, garlic, 1 carrot, 1 piece celery, green pepper, Brussels sprouts, sour cream, sherry, mozzarella (I know, weird), and 3 mushrooms.

It was odd, but delicious.
Now I have to clean the house, roast a chicken, and bake a pie for company tonight, so who knows what my blogging future will be.

Iron Shepherd Recipes

And Finally, here's what I cooked (in detail).

Avocado Vinaigrette/Citron (or some other Fancy Name. Did I mention the secret ingredient was Lemon?)
halved avocados, various fancy greens (spinach, baby lettuce etc.) dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. The avocado is filled with a dressing of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, fresh dill, fresh thyme, and a touch of white wine (in other words, what I usually spread over salmon to grill or bake/as my mother has always instructed me to do)


Lamb, Courgette, New Baby Potatoes a la Citron (or something)
I began by sweating onions and garlic in a beautiful cast iron skillet. When they were all cooked down and fine I dumped them in a bowl and seared the lamb chops (let me just say that it was an awfully special treat to cook lamb, we usually do once a year, a lamb leg for Easter), and then put the onion back on top, poured liberally white wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, fresh thyme, I think that's it. I covered the skillet with tinfoil and put it in the oven along with my tartlette crusts. I honestly can't remember how long I left it in, but long enough for it to still be lightly pink but not overdone (I think). When I pulled it out of the oven I removed the chops and added feta, liberal amounts of cream, a touch of sherry and more salt and pepper. And then I strained it and finally, because the texture and taste just needed something, I added an inch of Caprices des Dieux (cheese). The courgettes I sauteed with zest, salt, pepper and olive oil. The potatoes were boiled, buttered, zested and lemon juiced. And then I poured gravy on everything.

Fussy Lemon Curd Tartlettes
I did this, of course, First, as soon as the time started. The pie crust is standard Joy of Cooking (2 1/2 cups flour, 1 t salt, 2 sticks butter, very little cold water, worked entirely by hand). I pressed the dough into individual pie plates (little, cute) and forked them liberally, having nothing to weight them down, and baked them for a while (again, no idea) until they were done. The lemon curd was egg, butter, sugar, lemon juice. I honestly can't remember the proportions. I whisked desperately but it Did Set Up, thank the Lord. I let it all cool and assembled it toward the end of the hour. I got, I think, kind of carried away with all the pretty fruit-thinly sliced strawberry, grape, and banana.

More Important Pictures

Obviously, I got sidetracked from my third post about Iron Shepherd.

I wanted very much to include this pictures of these very fancy and wonderful aprons (thanks Carrie!) made on the spot.

And this picture of the screen whereupon everyone was able to watch the proceedings live (still waiting for someone to let me watch it).

And this picture of me having finished cooking.

And here are the judges doing there important job.

Nearly Victorious

Here Matt is plating his Chicken Picata, his main course. Next to it you can see his starter, Brussel Sprouts worthy of heaven. I'm hoping he will guest post his recipes when he gets a moment.


Here he is with his helper, Douglas, a fine cook in his own right, and one who (so importantly) loves eating.


And here is Matt's winning dessert, full, as I understand, of cream.

Triumphant!

Of course, of course I meant to immediately come home and blog, but instead we put all the children to bed and immediately collapsed into bed so as to be able to hit the ground running on Sunday morning. I have, really, three observations about the whole occasion. 1.It never occurred to me that we might pull it off (thus the stress leading up in all the previous days) and 2.I assumed all the time that Matt would win. and 3. It was loads of fun. That one hour of concentrated cooking without anything else going on was So Fun. So here are the first lot of pictures.

Here I am, trying to arrange the contents of our whole kitchen on the counter.


Here I am with my wonderful and talented helper, Sabina, who showed up at the last minute and turned out to be Very Fast.


Here I am putting together plates of Lamb, Courgette (zucchini), and new baby potatoes. Recipes in another post.


Here is my desert (lemon curd tarlettes) and my starting salad of avocado vinaigrette.

Iron Shepherd!

Just reminding you again.
Matt and I face off in the Church Kitchen.

Ingredient Revealed at 4pm
Cooking Begins at 5pm
Judging Begins at 6pm
Bring a Dish to Pass! and Pray that I Win!

I Need Cheaper Baking Yeast

I've seriously got to sort organizing this office and catching the calendar up and returning phone calls, BUT, I'm wondering if any of you out there in Internet Land know of a good cheap source of Fermipan Yeast. I'm sick of Flieschmans, its cost, its coming only in small quantities, its big fat granules. Anyone? Anyone? Come quickly to my aid. I'll be here sorting through bits of annoying paper refreshing every few minutes to see if anyone has commented.

Saturday Round Up

My dear Parent es are in town as of this morning (Come hear Dr. Robert Carlson preach and do Sunday School at Church of the Good Shepherd tomorrow! If you're in Binghamton.) And Rowan has the throwing up bug. And I've got to do the bulletin.

So I don't have time to be amazing. However, I offer you all the reading I did just now in procrastinating from doing the bulletin.

A Great Post for all of you who loving having babies and love people that have them.

The Latest Installment on the Value and Gifts of the Internets, as well as its Lackings.

And A Really Great Rant-So Worth It.

And, for a nice little lead into Sunday
Noni (in a general way): What would you feed Jesus if he came to dinner?
Me: Well, probably a nice light quiche and a beautiful salad. And a chocolate cloud cake.
E: Whatever he asked of me.
Me: Oh yeah, that.

Which leads me to my Great Announcement.
I hope all of you in the Binghamton Area will come to Good Shepherd NEXT Saturday, April 5th, at 4 (or 5, the latest) in the afternoon, to see The Reverend Matthew M. Kennedy Face Off Against The Reverend Anne E C Kennedy in the First Ever
Iron Shepherd
Two cooks battling out in the Church Kitchen using whatever secret ingredient will be provided unto them. May God frustrate mine enemies.