I've been posting so much about food lately, I decided to share some other projects. Here are some crochet projects I've done lately; a hat and a necklace. I was very happy with the hat; I'm going to experiment more with this type of necklace to find the best combo of yarns structurally as well visually.

The super-popular this year, mohawk hat, on my friend Bubha John. I got the free pattern on Ravelry , thanks, Hannah, although I crochet the same way I cook, because this is a knitted pattern that I managed to adapt.

and

the Crochet Necklace

The weather is cooling. Time for winter soups. The soup I'm posting today is a great way to use leftover parts of veggies that might otherwise get tossed. I grew some dent corn this summer; in Seattle, can you believe it? I got it from a local supplier, Uprising Seeds,  a 100% organic seed company,and was pleasantly surprised to find that it not only grew well, but didn't get all the buggy pests I fought with in the South. In this recipe, I have removed the kernals from the cobs for other recipes and am boiling the cobs in the stock which gives the soup a pleasingly light corn flavor. The other second use ingredient is fennel. Fennel bulbs are yummy, but it's a shame to throw away the stalks and fronds, and so this is how I made use of them. This is a veloute style soup. It has only a few ingredients, but takes a bit of time to make.

Sadly, we devoured the soup before I thought to take a photo, so I appropriated a photo of corn and fennel from a fellow blogger, the Vegetarian Chickie, because there must be some sort of photo on a post; but now I feel guilty using someone else's photo, so go check out her fennel and corn recipe! It lookes pretty yummy. You get two recipes for the price of one.

This is my recipe for Fennel, Corn and Fish Soup:

8 cups of broth, I used turkey

2 corncobs, cut in two, so they will fit into the pot

stalks of 1 head of fennel chopped into 1" chunks

1 large potato, 2 would make a thicker soup, cut into chunks

10 oz. salmon, cut into cubes, or flavorful fish of choice

1/4 cup fennel fronds, finely chopped

2 cups greens, I used assorted weeds from the yard, nutritious

First I simmered the corn cobs in the broth for a couple of hours. I suppose this could be done in a slow cooker, but I did it on the stove with a lid, so the liquid doesn't evaporate too much. Once the cobs had a bit of a tranlucent look, I fished them out and they went to the compost pile. Next I added the fennel stalks and simmered for about another hour, I left the bigger chunks which had softened up, but fished out the thinner tougher bits as they stay pretty tough, but have left their flavor. Add the potato, and simmer until just tender. Add the chopped greens and leave for about 3 more minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool some before putting in the blender. Return the soup to the pot and reheat to a simmer, adding the fish. When the fish is looking done, add chopped fennel fronds.

Some possible additions for serving might be a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, or a pesto. For vegans, you could possibly use vegetable broth and tempeh instead of fish, but I think it will be a blander soup, you might want to add some carrots or corn kernals for more flavor. I personally never follow a recipe to the letter, experiment.

Enjoy!

 Let me know if you liked it.

September, for me, was blackberry month. Blackberries were late coming this year and then they hung around for a long time. yippee!

I made a full size batch of blackberry wine which is in the carboy fermenting. Last year I only got to make a small batch, so that was first on my list this year.

I also made a small batch of blackberry mead, using a recipe from First Ways blog, which is an excellent blog with photos and step by step instructions.

I also made a pie, of course, but having already done pies and jams during salmonberry and raspberry season, I was looking for some variety. I made a blackberry chutney, that tasted alot like cranberry sauce; so I froze some for Thanksgiving. Made a recipe from Martha Stewart for blackberry/red wine jello.

A blackberry cheesecake.

By then I'd had about as much sugar as I could swallow, I don't have a huge sweet tooth, so I tried some less sweet ideas. Blackberries added to oatmeal. Blackberries added to my kombucha (shown next to the raspberry kombucha made last month)

I re-use glass jars cause I don't like to use plastic.

Blackberry kefir smoothie; which did have some honey.

And then I decided to try some non-food ideas.

Blackberry ink, which is the juice with some salt to preserve it. I'll post some pics once I get creative with it.

And finally, I'm trying out using it as a dye, although the sites I found said that the color will wash out and brown out with washing and light exposure, but it seemed like a shame not to try to capture some of that gorgeous color!

After all that, I still have a couple of containers of berries frozen for deep winter when I will crave a warm pie.

I understand why people don't like the blackberry vines here, as they are very invasive, grow fast and the thorns are not fun. The Blackberry Goddess demands payment in blood! The berries are wonderful, though.

So far, I don't have much competition in picking them; all this was from a half block area at the end of my street. I noticed the hazelnut bushes after the season had passed by a couple of weeks, next year I'll have my eye out for those, too. You can never have too much free food!

Mabon

Fall and Winter are a natural time of year to move from the Outer World to the Inner World. As the Earth shifts and we spend more time in darkness, we have time to spend in reflection. We shift to artificial light, an imitation of the Sun's light; but artificial light can go where the sun can't shine. Time to look at what lies beneath, when the World lies in Shadow and that which is hidden is revealed.

 What will we find in the basement of our Being? Do you dare to look? We fear looking at the hungry ghosts and howling monsters; but if we hide they come to find us, draining the light from our lives. If we dare to shine the light upon them, we often see that the shadows make them seem larger than they are. When illuminated, it is only a spider or a mouse; we either sweep them away or learn how to coexist with them or whatever action is most appropriate.

 Like the leaves of Fall that spend the Winter in decay; being transformed to nourish the seeds of the new Spring when the Sun returns; we, too, can complete this alchemy within to transform our demons, ghouls and bad habits into fertile ground for growth in the garden of our Souls.

 In Nature, the catalyzing ingredients for this alchemy are the fungi and bacteria that work to digest and break down organic matter. In our Beings, the catalyzing ingredient is our Will to shine the light of Consciousness on our own dark and stuck energies to absorb/accept, break down and integrate them into our Lives. This work can be done at any time of the year, but I find it more potent to work with the natural energies and seasons of the Earth.

What do you do with watermelon Rinds?

Recently I got one of those personal size watermelons, organic, of course, and had plans to make watermelon rind pickles with the non-red part of the fruit. Much to my diasappointment, the rinds were quite thin, so the pickles were out of the question. There WAS a thin rind to the watermelon, however, so I decided to make SOMETHING out of it. After much searching online, I saw some other recipes besides pickles, one of which was relish. I decided to try it, but make it a lacto fermented relish and changed some of the ingredients. It came out fabulous!

This is how I made it: I peeled the green exterior off of the rinds and chopped them into 1 " or so squares.

 Next I pureed the rinds in a food processor, till they were a little chunky, but pretty mushy.

Next, I pureed the rest of the ingredients, except for the whey, in the food processor. The recipe is below. I mixed the watermelon, other ingredients and the whey together into a large glass jar and let ferment for 3 days, after which it is stored in the fridge. My bf couldn't believe this tasty relish was made with watermelon rinds!

My boyfriend likes peanut butter; I like the glass jars. I make him buy the big ones. I don't like plastic containers with their BPA and dioxins if you freeze or heat them, I do not like them one little bit.

Recipe:

3 1/2 cups water melon rind, peeled and chopped into @ 1" pieces

1/2 red pepper

1 medium onion

1/4 raisins

2 tbsp. sea salt

1 clove garlic

1 tsp. mustard seed

1 tsp. turmeric

1 small hot pepper (optional)

4 tbsp. whey

Rose Coconut Chicken

This chicken recipe was inspired by a hot chocolate I had in Asheville, NC. It actually doesn't taste like it at all, but that's where I got the idea for the ingredients. Don't be put off by the idea of roses in your chicken! The rose and coconut gives the chicken a sweet flavor without much of a rose taste, although I love the taste of roses, personally. For best results, use a free-range, organic chicken that is fresh, so that you can marinate it for a couple days in the sauce. When you're ready to cook the chicken, save the marinade sauce to make rice with, substituting it for the water. Delish.

Rose Coconut Chicken

1 cup chopped rose petals
1 whole free-range, organic chicken cut into parts
1 cup hot water
3 cardamom pods, crushed
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
dash salt
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh whey or yoghurt
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Soak the rose petals in the hot water for a few minutes to steep. Pour into baking dish or other container to marinate. Add chicken. I use either a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to grind the spices, then add to dish. Add salt and coconut milk and whey or yoghurt. Mix all ingredients together well; I poke the chicken in several places with a knife, so that the marinade seeps in. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for a couple days. When you're ready to cook it, drain off the marinade, saving it to use to cook rice. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top and cook chicken in 350* oven for about an hour, check that chicken has cooked through, or for more tender chicken, if you have the time, cook at 275* for 2 to 3 hours or until done.

Using mushrooms for dyeing and pigments

Last weekend I went to a fabulous workshop on dyeing with mushrooms, hosted by the Puget Sound Mycological Society. We used wool yarn to make swatches of dyes obtained from various local mushrooms and with different types of mordants to get a taste for the creative possiblities mushrooms offer. My favorite was a bright pink made from rotten Lobster mushrooms and using washing soda as a mordant, although the bright yellow from wolf lichen was a close second. Lichens will actually dye without use of a mordant. Apparently, so much lichen was being collected in Ireland for dyeing wool that they have to restrict its use. Lichens have been used historically for dyeing textiles, but the use of mushrooms is quite modern. Modern mushroom dyes were by and large introduced by Miriam C. Rice, an artist who began developing the use of mushroom dyes in the early 70's. She went on to teach workshops and write very instructive books on the subject.

She worked in a close business relationship with illustrator Dorothy Beebee who has carried on her work. She also developed pigment for paint sticks and papers made from mushrooms.

Dyeing is a passion in any place that people keep sheep for making their fleece into yarn, and into clothing, bags and all sorts of other useful and decorative items. I was surprised to learn that there are still still many enthusiasts of the handmade. There are huge international conferences for textiles made from or dyed with fungi.

I saw so many creative uses for the dyed fibers at the workshop yesterday that I can't wait to experiment at home! It is recommended to heat the dye baths outside as some mushrooms are toxic and manipulating them for use can release the spores, so it's better to be in a well ventilated area. Also, they said they can be quite stinky and not well tolerated by the less creative members of the household.

lobster mushrooms