As You Can See, Sometimes Black Ice is Good and a Really Good Lenten Spinach Pie

Not waves, yet. Lake ice is turning black as it begins to melt
into slush before breaking up. This is the south shore.
Off City Park, the lake looks close to opening back
up although the aerators were pulled during the January thaw.

March 27, 2019.  66 degrees at three in the afternoon.  The month may indeed actually be going out like a lamb. True, we do still have four more days to go... and it is Iowa where weather can turn on a dime. Earlier in the week predictions called for six inches of snow. Not any more. Just a bit of rain... well, and some snow flurries on the 31st.

I'm seeing a band of slush at the shore. 

Geese have been flying over and some have stopped by in the marsh. I saw three pair the other day each staking out an icy corner. This morning there was a bit of water for them to paddle about in.

It will be some time before we can work in our gardens. Still, most of our piles of winter-packed leaves have been raked up and delivered to the Clear Lake yard waste. A huge flock of robins--40 or 50-- swooped in to then peck about in the softened ground. Nuthatches have been hopping up and down the tree trunks. The vegetable seeds have arrived in the mail. I'm thinking of starting some in pots. Lettuce and spinach "bowls" sound like they might be a useful, early way to get crops going.

I know I do have a favorite recipe for spinach that uses frozen chopped spinach. Tasty as a side dish, or even a main dish for meat-free meals.

"Shakespearian" Spinach Pie

I found the inspiration for this spinach tart in a recipe book from England during the 1600s--the era of the first Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare. I've updated it, but the combination of currants and seasonings elevate ordinary greens into an unusually tasty delight.

1/3 cup dried currants
1/4 cup brandy or orange juice
30 ounces frozen chopped spinach
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons peach juice, rosewater, or orange juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 8- or 9-inch unbaked pie crusts
Walnut halves for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, F. Combine the currants and brandy in a glass measuring cup or other container. Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on medium until the currants have absorbed the liquid. Set aside to cool. thaw spinach, and press out ALL the water. Put eggs in a medium mixing bowl, add juice and seasonings. Beat well. Add the melted butter, spinach, and currants. Mix thoroughly, making sure the spinach clumps break up, and then divide mixture between the pie crusts. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and continue baking until filling is puffed and set so that a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Tart is good hot, warm or cold. Store uneaten tart in the refrigerator for up to two days, or freeze for up to two weeks. NOTE: You may use frozen leaf spinach, but chop well for much easier slices and serving of the finished pie.

Disappearing ... Icicles, Snow, and Irish Soda Bread

March 11, 2019 sunrise hits the monumental icicles

Two days after I took this picture the ice dam shelf of icicles slid off and crashed to the ground. Today, not quite a week later, the icicles are gone all over, even from the homes where they reached the ground in a kind of ice-cave way. The snow is melting and nearly gone from lawns and streets, except for where the wind and snow plow had piled up mountains. If we're lucky, we won't get the early spring blizzards as we did last year--three in March and April.  But for all the progress no one is likely to plant potatoes as is the St. Patrick's Day tradition.

In the kitchen, I have another tradition simmering away--corned beef and cabbage!

I've made my favorite Irish Soda Bread, too. It is an easy recipe. Makes a single loaf with a great chewy texture -- perfect for the leftover corned been sandwiches.

Irish Soda Bread

1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup milk, any kind will do
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the vinegar in a glass measuring cup and add milk to make one cup. Stir, and set aside for a couple of minutes to sour. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. Pour in about 3/4 cup of the soured milk and mix quickly with a fork. Then begin to knead gently to form a rough, slightly damp, dough. You may need to add a bit more milk, a tablespoon at a time. DO NOT OVER KNEAD.  You don't want a smooth and elastic dough as you have for yeast bread. This is a roughly textured dough. If you over knead, the bread will be tough. Form the dough into a circle about 6-inches in diameter. Flatten to about an inch and a half thick. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. With a serrated knife make an "x" cut almost halfway through the dough. Bake until the bread is browned and sounds hollow when you tap it. Cool before slicing.  Best eaten in one or two days after baking... if you can wait that long!

Copyright 2019, Rae Katherine Eighmey, all rights reserved

In a Winter Pickle

The recent blizzard and cold temperatures have restored the
lake to fine conditions for a snowmobile highway.

Well, it is winter, again.  Snow....snow...snow and cold! Days and nights near (or below) zero! Hard to believe that a good portion of the main lake out from City Beach was open water about a month ago. Froze up beautifully for the Jack snowmobile race and the Color the Sky kite festival. 

The huge blizzard on February 23-24 brought about a foot of snow--36 hours of fifty mile per hour winds rearranged it, blowing it across the lake surface, unobstructed until it reached the South Shore.  It took about two days for the hard working city and county crews to clear the roads throughout the region. Here's a bit of the scene from our journey along South Shore Drive on March 2, 2019. 

Well, this is all dandy, but the kitchen conundrum concerns the Empty Pickle Jars!!!!

I thought I had put up enough pickles from our garden cucumbers this summer.. Clearly I was wrong.  It will be MONTHS before I have cucumbers hanging productively from the vines. A little less time until the Clear Lake Farmer's Market vendors will have some.  What's a pickle-craving family to do?  Well.... there are those lovely, long, hydroponic "English" cucumbers in the stores. Six of them fell into the cart at Fareway.  And Presto! Bingo! 5 jars of Bread & Butter Pickles are in the fridge.

Winter Bread & Butter Pickles to keep in refrigerator
adapted from the 1967 Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book 

6 long "hydroponic English-style" cucumbers -- or 8-9 regular with unwaxed peels
6-10 small sweet red, yellow, orange peppers
1/3 cup pickling salt
ice
5 cups sugar
3 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
2 tablespoons mustard seed

Thinly slice the cucumbers into disks, peel and all. Seed and slice the peppers into very, very thin strips. Put both into a large bowl, sprinkle with the salt and toss gently, Cover with cracked ice or small ice cubes. Let stand at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Drain well.  Sanitize the jars in dishwasher or wash in hot water. Wash the lids and cover with boiling water. In a large stockpot combine sugar, vinegar, turmeric, celery and mustard seeds. Bring to a simmer, stirring to assure the sugar is dissolved. Carefully add the drained cucumbers and peppers. Stir and cook until the mixture comes to a boil and the cucumbers begin to turn slightly yellow.  Fill hot jars with pickles and top with juice. Let cool and store in the refrigerator.

Tomatoes in the Lull Before the (Next) Storm

View from the window at the drifts BEFORE yesterday's
additional 8 inches. 

Last winter we had 7 inches of snow for all of February. Then, March and April made up for that, to be sure. This February we've had about 30 inches--so far--with one more storm to come on Friday through Sunday. The predictions are all over the map from half an inch plus rain, or wintery mix, or all snow up to 22 inches!  And there will be wind. So.. .we'll hunker down after making sure we have snow-thrower gas.

I can be hopeful that with March coming in "like a lion" that it may go out "like a lamb" so we won't get 30 inches at the end of the month.

anyhow...

Seems like a good day to thaw out garden tomatoes and make up some soup.

The thawing tomato iceberg!

I inhaled the aroma of summer as I opened up the ziplock of frozen tomatoes.

In August and September my garden routine includes "dealing with" the tomato bounty. We continue to enjoy BLT's and fresh salsa, but as the days start getting shorter--sun setting by 8:30, not 10, it is time to think about winter.

So, after supper I pull out my large pot and bring a bunch of water to a boil. I've already picked a bowl full or tomatoes and now I'm ready to "put them by." I do can, make spaghetti sauce, and a fabulous 19th-century chili sauce, but this is the easiest, fasted way to process bounty.

I cut a couple of slits in each tomato's skin and gently lower it into the boiling water. After about 30 seconds I can see the skin start to flutter away from the tomato. Then pull them out with a slotted spoon and put them in another bowl. I'll let them cool for a bit and then set up a yet another bowl with a sieve. Next step--cut out the core of the tomato, slip off the skin, take a slice off the top, and squeeze out the juice and seeds, letting all that drop into the sieve. Put the peeled tomatoes in one more bowl. The juice that will dribble though the sieve is terrific!  Finally,  put the peeled tomatoes, and the drained juice, into a ziplock--I usually put a dozen or so into a gallon bag. Then into the freezer.

Until Soup Time!

Tomato Soup from Summer Frozen Bounty

1 bag of 12 medium tomatoes (about 4 cups thawed)
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup salsa
salt and pepper to taste

Thaw tomatoes and, if you are picky about seeds, remove them by pressing the tomatoes through a sieve. Put tomatoes in a medium pot. Stir in the cornstarch and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until soup is slightly thickened. Add sugar and rice. Simmer until rice is cooked, about 20 minutes. Stir from time to time. Add the salsa, salt, and pepper.  Makes about 4 cups of soup.



copyright 2019, all rights reserved, Rae K. Eighmey 

Winter is Back.... and then some. Time to make below-zero back-porch ice cream

A single sun dog was visible from inside the house.
At 30 below with wind chill at 51 below,
ot going out on the deck to capture the whole of it.

Well... quite a change from two weeks ago. The past three days have brought the polar vortex cold temperatures throughout Iowa and other Midwestern states.  Reminded me of college days in Iowa City where we regularly had a January week where it wouldn't get above 10 below--night, or day. 

So we hunkered down, well provisioned. As did most of the critters in neighborhood. We usually see tracks in the snow -- squirrels, rabbits, deer, mice, birds, and the occasional ferrel cat. Not a one for the past two days on the freshly fallen snow.

With temperatures predicted to be way below zero, I got to wondering how long it would take to make ice cream using the cold Mother Nature provided. I pulled ingredients on hand and an hour later... ice cream.

I used my immersion blender to chop up the pie filling and slightly whip the cream. Then into a metal bowl and outside on the deck.

In an hour it was frozen more firmly than ice cream does in my machine. It would have frozen faster if I had spread it out in a baking pan. The edges were frozen in about 10 minutes.

It looks much prettier in a glass.

The texture is a bit like a mixture of ice cream and gelato-- a bit light and crystalline-- and it could use a bit more sweetness. It was pie filling after all. But a bit of chocolate syrup will solve that problem.  If I make it again, I'll pour the mixture into a large zipper freezer bag and smush it every ten minutes or so.  But, I"m hoping I won't have the chance.

We're getting a quick thaw this weekend. Rain and temperatures up into the 40s. I'll do up some Juicy Lucy burgers (see previous post) to refill the freezer. More cold and snow due next week.

Winter in Iowa... got to love it.

April Lake? Nope, an amazingly warm January thaw. Time for a grill full of burgers

The Outlet. Lake level is still high on January 15, 2019

It has hardly seemed like winter these past three weeks.  Daytime temperatures up into the high 30s and even low 40s with overnight lows just into the teens and 20s. Seems more like March. The lake, which had the second earliest ice-in back in November now has open water over vast stretches.

Flocks of geese have stopped by on what appear to be trips north.

Geese at City Beach

View from City Beach over toward North Shore January 13, 2019

So with all this warm weather, what's a person to do?

Get out the grill!

Especially when I've looked ahead at the forecast to see winter returning next week. Temperatures with highs in the teens and lows below zero.  Time to stock the freezer with cooked burgers read to warm up for summer once it snows ... predicted for Friday!

A fringe of cheese oozes out from the center of the Juicy Lucy burger.
Deviled egg and pickles put up last summer from the bumper crop of cucumbers
complete springtime on a plate.

Juicy  Lucy -- a Twin Cities Treat 

Makes 30 slider-sized burgers. This is enough to fill my 24-inch grill.  Of course you can cut the quantity down, but it is just as easy to make the whole batch, wrap cooled burgers airtight, and freeze. Then you can have nearly "fresh off the grill" when it is ten below outside.

8 to 10 ounces cheese -- cheddar, jack, mozzarella
3 pounds ground beef
3 pounds ground round
1 12-ounce jar chunky salsa -- your favorite variety

Cut the cheese into squares about 3/4 by 3/4 inch and about 1/8-inch thick. You will need 60 of these squares for about a 1/4-inch thick chunk of cheese in the middle of your Lucy.

In the biggest bowl you can find combine the meats and salsa and squish together with your hands until just mixed.  Start your assembly line -- I make 15 burgers at a time, requiring 30 patties. Spread out a large sheet of plastic wrap on your counter and start making the burgers. Scoop up about 3 tablespoons of the meat mixture -- palm-sized in my small hands. Form into THIN patties, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  Put 2 cheese squares in the middle of half the patties. Cover with second patty. Seal the cheese into the middle by pressing around the edges and then gently forming into a nicely rounded burger. Make up all the patties and put in the refrigerator to chill for an hour or so while you heat up your grill.  Grill as usual.   NOTE: you might want to put more cheese in the middle but too much will just ooze out and fall down onto the coals.

A Holiday Lake -- Eggnog Cookies

An fisherman stakes out his spot off the island in the middle of December.

Ice came early to Clear Lake this year. Official ice in was declared on November 13. The second earliest on record.  The earliest was November 4, 1981.  It firmed up quickly. Snowmobiles scurried around near the shore by the second week in December.  Ice shacks appeared right before Christmas.

But how long will it last?  We've had a couple of light snowstorms and lately the highs have been above 32!  Have not seen any cars or truck out.  The aerators are working.  Winter is here and it will be interesting to see how long it lasts.

It is also Eggnog Season. For those who can't get enough, here's a recipe for a tasty cookie. Make up the dough in rolls to slice-and-bake when you want a nice touch of holiday spirit.

A simple cookie with a taste that improves with time.

Frosted Eggnog Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 cup commercial eggnog
1teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 1/2 cups flour

Note: there are no eggs in this recipe.

Cream butter and sugar, blend in eggnog. Stir in baking soda, cream of tartar, nutmeg, and two cups of flour. Blend in the rest of the flour. Form into 4 logs, about 10-inches long.Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours or up to three days. Dough rolls can be put in freezer plastic bags and frozen for months. When ready to bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap and slice into 1/8-inch slices. Place an inch apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until set and lightly browned around the edges. Remove to wire rack and cool. Frost

Frosting--enough for entire batch--cut down if you only bake off part of the recipe.

1/4 cup melted butter
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup eggnog

Combine the butter and sugar, stir in eggnog.