something new - and something old

Buddha hand (a type of citron) is in season currently. I've always wanted to play with these things. They look so amazing and they smell wonderful. After doing a bit of digging, I also learned that Americans used to have a tradition of curing them as a pickle! In fact, did you know that watermelon rind pickles used to be made with the rind of something called a "citron melon"? And that pickled citron melon rind was called "American citron"?

Based on the recipes I could find for preserved citron (mostly from the 1800s), it seemed like I could just use the old watermelon rind pickle process and cure up some buddha hand. So! I salt cured it overnight...

then I brined it, but made some changes to the watermelon's vinegar pickle. This time, I used a mixture of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and distilled white vinegar, and for spices I used a bit of powdered ginger, along with cardamon pods, a few whole cloves, coriander and black mustard seed, and pink and black peppercorns - plus a touch of tumeric for that pretty yellow colour.

and voila! It actually looks a good deal like the watermelon rind pickles, doesn't it? Only these have a powerful lemony flavour.

What to do with preserved buddha hand? In about 10 months, I think I might commit to making my first real fruitcakes, with this citron, dried white turkish figs and apricots in them, wrapped in cheesecloth and fed with brandy and aged for a month before giving at the holidays.

I know, I know. Fruitcake has such a maligned place in American culture. We always loved it in our family - getting a fruitcake from my grandfather (or failing that, from one of the Oregon monasteries) was a highlight of the holiday. But then again, I grew up with the real stuff - no weird green artificial "citron" here, our fruitcakes were stuffed with real, recognizable fruits. Still, even with friends who (I think?) trust my baking chops, I don't think I'll be able to justify making more than just a few of these fruitcakes. I don't want to spend a month pouring brandy into something that might be thrown out before it is even tasted, you know?

What's your feeling on fruitcake? I know, we're kind of past the holidays now - but any other fruitcake lovers out there? Ever had an aged one? What did you think?

handmade holidays: jokes among nerdy friends

Good guesses, Jen - it's actually David Garrick, the most famous of 18th Century English actors, renowned for his performances of Shakespeare (Garrick helped bring Shakespeare back *into* fashion after he had fallen out of vogue). The little card includes the portrait on which the monkey's outfit is based. Sent to a friend who just finished her phd (well done, your ladyship C!!), with a dissertation on theatre in 18th century England. I still owe her a pack of trading cards of Great Moustaches (spawned by our observation in a theory course we took together that all the great theorists and philosophers we were reading had really *unique* facial hair).

So. It's mid-January. And it's snowing here in Seattle. The U was closed for MLK Day yesterday; but I have no classes on Tuesdays, so it's officially a 4-day weekend for me. Which is nice; I've been feeling a bit sick after the MLA, as if all that stress and worry were finally expressing itself in the most drawn-out process of getting-sick that I've ever had. So I'm sitting here, watching the snow fall, hoping we do get those 5-10 (preferably 10!) inches that were a possibility in the forecast this morning, as I'd love to sleep in again tomorrow and sit here and drink another liter of hot tea and just rest. While Cass is at work, I'm listening to Christmas carols and stitching my first-ever alabama chanin reverse applique corset top (I have wanted one of these since high school, when I first learned about project alabama!) by hand. It's really nice. I think it counts as "resting" (for the sick) and it's doing wonders for my state of mind. I needed this. I really needed a good stretch of days (I find that four days of any particular activity/location/work is what it takes to kind of "reset" my brain) to actually be still, be worry-free, be nightmare-free, sleep in, contemplate the sky. Perhaps the snow is just the icing on the cake, but somehow, I feel like I needed it, too. It didn't feel much like the holidays around here this year, and I was willing to accept that and move on - but this weekend has actually gone a long way toward satisfying what I crave from the "holiday season."

Well. Back to it. Happy Tuesday, all. Back with pictures - hopefully soon - of the corset top. I've already done all the reverse applique. Now I'm adding embroidered "eyelets," to use Chanin's term, to the pieces before I sew it up. Two of eight panels done already. Hoping to have finished five by the end of today - though I suppose I have to get to some real work today as well. So long as it keeps snowing, I won't mind. =)

handmade holidays: coming soon.

cannot wait to show you this project; I've been working on it (off an on; drafting patterns for clothes for this guy has been a HEADACHE) for most of the year and now it is finally going out in the mail to my friend who probably has no idea I've been engaged in such silliness (it really is very silly, I was giggling all evening as I finished it and even Cass couldn't help but laugh at it all). As soon as it's landed, I'll post better pictures. Ah, the packages - winging their way out a bit late this year, friends. If yours hasn't come yet, hold tight! I'm slowly getting through it all!

handmade holidays: plaid shirt

believe me when I tell you that matching the plaid was nerve-wracking. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to cut out the pattern and which parts were most important to match (the way the shirt is cut, with a back yoke, and pleated back, it's actually impossible for all of it to line up perfectly). So, I matched the vertical stripe on the center of the back yoke and the shirt back. I matched the sides of the shirt front and shirt back, but didn't worry about the sleeves. I wanted the verticals to match on the pockets, but decided I didn't care about the horizontals - I actually wanted the pockets to be a little less camoflauged against the shirt front.

All in all, I don't think I saved a penny over just buying him a j.crew shirt for Christmas. BUT I have the pattern, which I can use again. And I won't always have to use such expensive fabric - I used a nice medium-weight yarn-dyed plaid, which means the stripes have been woven in (as in, the shirt is actually made of differently-coloured threads - and it looks the same on both sides) not printed onto a woven fabric. As he tried it for fit, he even commented that it's heavier than his other shirts (some of which are rather flimsy, if I do say so myself). I say good! It'll last longer!

It's a great fit, isn't it? I used Colette Patterns' Negroni, in size medium. For any other tailors or seamstresses out there interested in this pattern, I've heard that the arm holes can be small on some who have very muscular arms or a broad chest. For reference, Cass is about 6' 1/2" or 1". He wears a size medium in jcrew shirts, but a size large in gap (or a medium tall). He doesn't have very broad shoulders - we've never found a man's blazer that doesn't look oversized on him. He told me that the sleeve openings on this, far from being too small, were just right - whereas some of his other shirts use a really large opening, so that the body of the shirt pulls up when he raises his arm above his head.

It's a bit of a labour of love, matching plaids and painstakingly pressing and doing all of those flat-felled seams (the arm openings AND the side seams are flat-felled seams), but the result is a quality garment with a good fit. Score yet another win for Collette patterns - so far, every pattern (see this skirt, this dress, this blouse, this slip) I've tried by Sarai has turned out an excellent garment that fits amazingly well. Sarai, I thank you!!

holiday spice: gingerbread scones with candied ginger and orange

ohmygoodnessyum. I have a new favorite - also, I think my holidays needed a bit of gingerbread a LONG time ago. I made these scones by modifying this recipe for gingerbread raisin scones on epicurious. According to the reviews, the original was a little dry, so I added extra liquids and increased the flavour and incorporated something better than raisins: chopped candied ginger and bits of candied orange peel.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup half and half
  
• 1 large egg
• 4 tablespoons dark molasses
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped candied ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped candied orange peel
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a baking sheet and set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and spices in food processor and pulse to combine. Add pieces of cold butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a large bowl, combine half and half, egg, molasses and vanilla. Add flour mixture and ginger and orange peel and stir together until just combined. Gather dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Pat into a disk, about 6" diameter. Cut into eight wedges.

Place on buttered baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes, then cool on a rack.

note: the scones didn't puff so much as just spread out as they baked. But they taste INCREDIBLE, like soft moist gingerbread cakes. Yum. We're serving ours tonight for dessert at our friends' place, with roasted chunks of apples and a bit of whipped cream.

happy holidays, indeed!

handmade holidays: this year's wrap

I'm quite pleased with how this turned out this year - especially this little package, isn't it pretty? Instead of buying paper, I saved the leftover scraps of Cole and Sons' Forest wallpaper from when we wallpapered our kitchen this summer, and used them to wrap up all the presents. Though arguably rather expensive to use as wrapping paper, I'm not sure what to do with the remnants otherwise - and I'm loathe to waste something so pretty.

I tied up Cass' presents with green garden twine and little paper tags; aren't they pretty under the tree? Our tree is all decorated in ivory, clear, silver and bronze glass ornaments in the shapes of acorns, pomegranates, icicles, and pinecones, and our tree skirt is a simple semi-circle that I made from some heavy-weight silk/cotton suiting fabric I bought for a song several years ago. I definitely have a thing for forest themes.

god jul!

the winter solstice occurred at 5:30am this morning. The longest night of the year, the shortest day; already the days are lengthening - just think! Seattle's shortest days are about 8.5 hours long, our longest ones about 16 hours. That's a big change - and turning back to the bright side of the year always feels happy and hopeful for me, especially when we have such a beautiful winter day on which to celebrate. The light is going down, at 3pm, here in Seattle - it'll be twilight here in 90 minutes - but isn't it so beautiful on these trees? I'm glad I've been able to get out and about for the last few nice days; KOMO is calling for a WEEK of rain starting tomorrow. (Well, it has been unseasonably dry; we can't really complain, not in good conscience. I know Cass was looking forward to a great ski season this year, but for a "la nina" cycle, it's been uncharacteristically dry.)

the light on the tree inside might not be so majestic, but that's only because it comes into its own at twilight. You'll just have to trust me on that one - the camera doesn't really do it justice after dark.

Wherever you are, whatever holiday you celebrate, I wish you a very happy and joyful one! More from me over the next few days - I'm finishing up another gift for Cass, a new shirt (and hoo boy, is it ever intimidating to sew men's clothes! the precision involved is crazy).