This episode includes the following segments: Ever-expanding Skill Set, The Back Porch, The Front Porch, Gratitude Journal, and Double Happiness.

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Ever-expanding Skill Set

There’s a fantastic dish at Spice Market, an Asian-fusion restaurant in NYC’s meatpacking district, or near it.  Actually, it’s a very convenient location for lunch or dinner if you’ve been spending some time on the High Line.  The dish is ginger fried rice.  Mark Bittman has reverse-engineered the dish.  He’s a genius, frankly.  Deb Perelman recognizes his genius and has included the recipe on her Smitten Kitchen website.  And now you can enjoy this intriguingly simple rice at home.  It goes very well with any protein dish that is vibrantly-flavored — it balances out spicy and exotic notes.  Topped with a fried egg, it makes a great lunch or light supper.  I am one of those people who finds the interrogation of a fried egg too violent for a morning meal, so I prefer an egg like this served after noon, thank you very much.

Among my bulk bin purchases this month was a cup of pink rice from Madagascar.  It wasn’t easy to find recipes specifically devised for this rice.  I did, however, become caught up in the agricultural lore of “Dista rice,” which I talk a bit about in the podcast.  I did manage to find a recipe for a pink rice pilaf from Whole Foods.  Start by toasting the rice in a sizzling dollop of coconut oil and roasted chili paste, then use orange juice as a cooking liquid.  Great with chicken roasted on the Big Green Egg charcoal grill.

The Back Porch

This week, I completed the Galactic Orbits top by Linda Skuja and finished plying 6 ounces of Wensleydale in the London Fog colorway from FatCatKnits.  The fiber spun up into 390 yards of a sport/DK weight 2-ply.  The extremely long staple length of this fiber meant that it was a very different spinning experience from what I’ve had so far.  My wheel is empty as I decide what project to begin next.

The Front Porch

One new project went on the needles since the last episode.  That is Farbklang “color of sound” by Simone Eich of WOLLWERK.  This is an asymmetrically-designed scarf that is great for using scraps and experimenting with color combinations.  Here is Simone’s completed piece.  Mine will feature blues and greens, and lots of beads.

Another up-and-coming project is Tripartite, a swingy, softly-structured vest design by Stephen West.  I have never knit with lace weight yarn before, but the versatility of this garment intrigues me and I think it will make a great layering piece for the summer.

Gratitude Journal

Learn some new vocabulary and make a contribution of rice to the World Food Programme by playing Free Rice.

Double Happiness

This week, I read a poem titled Egg by Ales Steger, a Slovene poet, in honor of National Poetry Month.  It sums up nicely my sentiments regarding the fried egg.

This episode includes the following segments: The Back Porch, The Front Porch, A Little Bit of Learning, Ever-expanding Skill Set, and Double Happiness.

LISTEN:

The Back Porch

Complete: Deviate, a shawl design by Lisa Mutch, in the squishiest superwash Merino sock yarn dyed up in Fresh Flannel by Heather of Highland Handmades.  I should have been working on some other projects, but I couldn’t resist this really cool design and very pleasing garter stitch texture.  It’s a winning combination.

The Front Porch

It’s time to think spring with craft projects as well as culinary ones.  This week, I’ll be starting Galactic Orbits, a crocheted tank top by Linda Skuja.  I’ve made her Triangle Cowl at least three times.  I’ve decided on an organic yarn of wool and cotton in a gorgeous peony color.  My plan is to complete this top in time to wear it to Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.

A Little Bit of Learning

Is black the new green?  My endeavors with the Bulk Bins Cook-along are more to do with experimentation and improvisation than nutrition.  Still, it’s difficult not to investigate the nutritional value of ingredients that are new to me.  This week, I cooked black rice for the first time.  This recipe for rice pudding yields a subtly sweet, luxurious dessert.  The rice grains are soft, but still a bit chewy.  Incredible.  And I learned that black rice contains even higher levels of immune-bolstering vitamin E than brown rice, and as much anthocyanin (an antioxidant) as blueberries.

Rice is great if you’re really hungry and want to eat                              two thousand of something. — Mitch Hedberg

Ever-expanding Skill Set

Sunday morning’s searches for a springtime rice dish turned up some fresh ideas.  I added a few of my own improvisational touches and came up with this recipe.  What flavors do you associate with spring?  For me, sweet peas, artichokes, lemon and mint are the essential elements.

A Taste of Spring Warm Rice

Pour 1 1/4 cups water into a medium saucepan.  Add 1 tablespoon butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, the juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 tablespoon dried mint leaves or 1 mint teabag.  Bring to a boil.  If using teabag, simmer for 3 minutes then remove bag. Add 1 cup brown California basmati rice.  When rice boils, reduce heat and cover.  Simmer for about 45 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed.

Meanwhile, set a large earthenware bowl on the counter and add ingredients to it as you prepare them.

Saute one small, diced onion in a bit of olive oil.  Add 1-2 cups diced ham and warm through. Add these ingredients to bowl, along with 1 cup fresh or frozen petite peas and 1 cup quartered artichoke hearts.

Spoon cooked rice into the bowl and toss to warm all ingredients.  Garnish with chopped fresh mint, sliced scallions, and additional lemon juice or grated lemon rind.

Double Happiness

It’s April — National Poetry Month.  I’ll be ending each episode with a poem.  This week, I’m reading “Daily” by Naomi Shihab Nye.  This poem reflects the importance of craft and the beauty of objects that get a lot of use.  Nye has a special ability to make the ordinary extraordinary in her poems.

This episode includes the following segments: Ever-expanding Skill Set, Double Happiness, and Gratitude Journal.

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Ever-expanding Skill Set

I’ve been using my improvisational skills to make this South African inspired meatloaf ever since I learned of the dish ten years ago. Here’s my best attempt at pinning down a recipe.

Bobotie

1.25 lbs. ground lean turkey
2 slices of stale bread, toasted and cubed
2 eggs
1 tblsp. whole milk or half & half

1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 tblsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tblsp. high quality ketchup, jam, or chutney

1/4 c. dried apricots or golden raisins, diced
1/4 c. blanched almond slivers

1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. sweet curry powder
1 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. lemon peel powder
1/2 tsp. ground coriander seed
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly cracked black pepper

your favorite homemade or store-bought BBQ sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Prepare one regular or two small loaf pans. I like to use two small loaf pans, so that I can serve one meatloaf and freeze the other. This recipe freezes exceptionally well.
3. Place first four ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Coat a cast iron skillet with olive oil, and sauté onion for five minutes. When translucent, add garlic and sauté for another minute. Add next two ingredients and heat until bubbly.
5. Pour contents of skillet into the large bowl.
6. Add fruit, nuts and spices to bowl. Mix thoroughly.
7. Spoon mixture into prepared pans, making sure there are no air bubbles. Top with BBQ sauce.
8. Bake until meatloaf is cooked through (bubbly all around edges of the pan). This takes about 20 minutes for two small pans or 45 minutes for a large loaf pan.

I like to serve bobotie with roasted cauliflower and a green vegetable or salad. It is so much more exciting than plain old meatloaf!  Join in the fun of the Bulk Bins Cook-along by posting your recipes, photographs and links to the Ravelry forum.  You can also tag your posts on Instagram or Twitter with #bulkbinskal

Double Happiness

This week, I made plans to visit the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival on Saturday, May 3rd.  I look forward to meeting listeners and new friends and taking part in the excitement of the day.  Samuel has designed a logo for a field bag so that fans of the show can identify me in a crowd. I also ordered a new shipment of buttons to give away.

A few weeks ago, when Kris of Halcyarn knitting accessories sent my prize project bag, she included a gift for a lucky YAYH listener.  I’ve decided to hold a little contest to see what your creative ideas are for festival shopping on a very tiny budget.  Visit the contest page to enter.

Gratitude Journal

The older we get, the more difficult it can be to find mentors.  I believe in the student/mentor relationship, and have been very fortunate in my choice of mentors, and fortunate also that others have sought my mentorship.  Sometimes I meet or hear of someone about whom I can say, “I want to be like her when I grow up.”  This week, in a video suggested by Paula of Knitting Pipeline, I found another.  Her name is Renate Hiller and in this video she shares her philosophy about the importance of craft. She begins by talking about the spindle, but really her point applies to the practical arts in general.  In Episode 4, I shared some of my thoughts about the importance of empathy — in particular, the necessity of educators to develop their capacity for empathy.  Renate Hiller’s teachings are an extension of that core idea.

Today, more than ever, the crafts have the mission to reconnect the human being to the Earth and her substances, bring healing to the senses and soul, and foster the creative capacities of the human being. — Renate Hiller

This episode includes the following segments: The Back Porch, The Front Porch, and Ever-expanding Skill Set.

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The Back Porch

This week I completed Round 1 of Sock Madness by finishing my Brucie socks.  This very clever pattern by Amy Rapp was a lot of fun to knit.  Since I was on a field trip that yielded a lot of knitting time, I was also able to complete two other quick projects.  Purl Soho has a great tutorial for the Bandana Cowl.  This pattern is easy and fun, and is idea for men and women — and kids too.  I think it’s a great project to turn 4 ounces of bulky 2-ply handspun into wearable art.  I’m very pleased with the way mine came out.  For the wraps and turns in the pattern, I turned to Alice Yu’s tutorial on shadow wraps, which can be found on the Socktapus blog.  Since learning about the Sockhead hat, I think I will always have one of those on the needles.  I just finished the one I started at VKL in NYC.  The SockEase yarn in rock candy is nice, sturdy yarn.  I’ve already started another hat, and I have a ball of SockEase in lemon drop to continue the project.

The Front Porch

My first order from Highland Handmades came in the mail and I immediately started a new project.  Deviate by Lisa Mutch is an asymmetrical shawl pattern with a zig-zagging spine, garter stitch and stockinette stitch.  It is working up beautifully in Heather’s yarn.  I mean BEAUTIFULLY.  The colorway is Fresh Flannel and the base is White Maple Sock, which is 100% superwash merino.

Ever-expanding Skill Set

This week, I’ve been experimenting with harissa, a North African spice blend of hot peppers, other herbs and spices, and oil.  Because of the oil, it’s a condiment or sauce.  I like the balance of mint and peppers — it doesn’t need to be searingly hot.  And a home cook can really improvise with this stuff. Tonight, I’m drizzling it over some leftover mashed potatoes.  For more ideas of how to make and use harissa, check out this series of recipes from The Huffington Post.

Once you get a spice into your home, you have it forever.  Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices.  I know which one I’m taking with me when I go.  – Erma Bombeck

This week’s episode includes the following segments: The Front Porch, Ever-expanding Skill Set, A Little Bit of Learning, and Double Happiness.

LISTEN:

The Front Porch

I’m still very busy knitting the Brucie sock for the opening round of Sock Madness.  But sometimes I need a break from my US #1 needles. That’s when I go to my wheel and spin some  Wensleydale.  If you feel like a departure from Merino, Wensleydale fiber is about as far away as you can get.  A conservation breed from the English Longwool Family, Wensleydales “may be the only breed that can be traced directly to a single ancestor,” according to Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius in their Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook.  The Wensleydale I’m spinning was dyed by Ginny of FatCatKnits in the London Fog colorway.  The wool has incredible luster; the single seem translucent.  With a staple length of 6-8 inches, it can be spun with a low amount of twist.  There’s quite a halo on the spun product, but the singles are very soft.

Ever-expanding Skill Set

This weekend, I’m making several loaves of Irish Soda Bread.  Over the years, I’ve experimented with several different recipes.   I began with this recipe from Epicurious, and made some subtle changes.

Irish Soda Bread from Yin Hoo Cha Yuan

• 2 1/4 c. organic all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/4 c. organic whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter, cubed

• 1 c. golden raisins
• 2 tblsp. caraway seeds

• 1/3 c. organic sugar
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• grated rind of 1/2 orange

1. Preheat oven 350.
2. Sift 2 cups of all-purpose flour and next four ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Use a pastry cutter to cut butter into dry ingredients.
4. Measure raisins and caraway seeds into a small bowl with 1/4 c. reserved flour.  Toss to coat.
5. Whisk last four ingredients together in a medium bowl.
6. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, then pour in wet ingredients.  Stir about ten turns with a large wooden spoon.  Before ingredients are thoroughly mixed, add raisins and caraway seeds.  Stir a few more times, then turn out contents onto the counter.
7. Give the dough a quick knead with a very gentle touch to make sure all ingredients are well-incorporated.  Add a bit more flour if the mixture is sticky.  Don’t overwork the dough or your bread will be tough!
8. Shape into a large round loaf and place on cooking tray.  Cut an X 1″ deep on the dough surface.
9. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and skewer inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.
10. Cool.  Serve with real butter and orange marmalade.

A Little Bit of Learning

Here I’ve been thinking that making Irish soda bread is an authentic way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  It turns out that the recipe above constitutes an American adaptation of the soda bread that would have been familiar in Irish households as early as the 1800′s.  The raisins or currents in most contemporary recipes would have been considered luxury ingredients.  However, buttermilk, traditionally a by-product of butter making, would have been on hand in most households.  Also, there was a custom of putting a handful of caraway seeds in bread — a custom that made its way to America.  Read the whole story about the corruption of real Irish soda bread by Megan O. Steintrager here.  She cautions against kneading the dough.  I find that a very quick knead actually works the dough less than turning with a spoon to fully incorporate ingredients.

At Yin Hoo, mixing traditions is a way of life.  So it won’t be a surprise that, instead of Irish breakfast tea, Samuel and I enjoyed our soda bread with some delicious homemade Chai. Thanks to Linda from Delaware for posting her recipe on the Bulk Bins Cook-along board. Post your recipes, links, and photographs.  Each month, a randomly-selected participant on the board wins a free pattern on Ravelry.

Double Happiness

This week, I found out that I was selected  Valedictorian of  the February graduating class.  This tradition, on Dr. Kelly’s Ewe University’s audio podcast, is a lot of fun. Join the Ewe University group on Ravelry and post projects you’ve completed in March for a chance to win. My new Just My Type project bag from Halcyarn Knitting Accessories is really cool.  Colorful typewriters on the outside, groovy paperclips on the lining, and the perfect size for a small or medium project.  Check out Kris’ Etsy shop to find a the perfect project bag.

In Ireland, you go to someone’s house, and she asks you if you want a cup of tea. You say no, thank you, you’re really just fine. She asks if you’re sure. You say of course you’re sure, really, you don’t need a thing. Except they pronounce it ting. You don’t need a ting. Well, she says then, I was going to get myself some anyway, so it would be no trouble. Ah, you say, well, if you were going to get yourself some, I wouldn’t mind a spot of tea, at that, so long as it’s no trouble and I can give you a hand in the kitchen. Then you go through the whole thing all over again until you both end up in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting. 

In America, someone asks you if you want a cup of tea, you say no, and then you don’t get any damned tea.

I liked the Irish way better.

                                                                                                                  – C. E. Murphy, Urban Shaman