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Lovely Day

In living, traveling on April 3, 2009 at 6:51 am

Have you ever walked through Central Park on April 2?

No?  Well, let me tell you something, you should.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait right here while you mark it on your calendar for next year.  And if you’re coming in from out of town, you’ll want to be here by the evening before, no fooling, because you’ll need to be in the park before 8am, in order to avoid the herds of tourists.

Because the most important aspect of being in Central Park on April 2 is the ability to find a pocket of the park where you are completely alone.  Just you and nature and the city.  It’s a powerful, emotional moment, especially if you let the sonic wall that is the park’s birds in full song wash over you.

A secondary consideration to make, if you are planning a trip to be in Central Park on April 2, is that it should have rained the night before, so that there is fog and mist everywhere (this might require a degree of flexibility in travel plans).  It’s also another reason why you have to get up early, so that it hasn’t all burnt away yet.  Because, I now feel strongly that there are two times when New York City is at it’s loveliest: in the middle of a snowstorm (c.f. March Snow), and on a misty Spring morning.

Central Park not your thing? How about Bermuda? Click here for some island breezes.

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Easter Eggs Of Another Color

In cooking, food, pickles, recipes, veggies on March 31, 2009 at 6:47 am

Well, it’s that time of year again, time to dust off my most popular post of all time.  Apparently I’m not the only pickled egg fanatic out there…

Pennsylvania Dutch Pickled Red Beet Eggs

It’s that time of year when the hearts of children, and yes, grown men and women the world over, sing with glee and hope.  It’s time to bite the ears off a chocolate rabbit.  Or snarf down multiple bags of Cadbury’s Mini Eggs.

And while I am human, and I do get a weird thrill out of chomping on dopey, oddly vacant bunnies in dark, milk and white chocolate varieties, the thing that really makes my heart go pitter-pat as we approach the Easter season is, of course, pickles.

And I know I am not alone.

Over the past two weeks, I have been getting hundreds of hits a day from people looking for a pickled red beet egg recipe.

Pennsylvania Dutch Pickled Red Beet Eggs

Don't they look a bit like a sunset?

So, pickled egg lovers of the world unite! Here is what you’re looking for:

Pennsylvania Dutch Pickled Hard Boiled Eggs And Red Beets (aka, pickled red beet eggs)

  • 1 can small, whole red beets¹
  • 1/3 c. brown sugar
  • 1 c. cider vinegar
  • 1 c. cold water
  • 3 or 4 whole cloves
  • small pieces of cinnamon
  • 1 doz. hard boiled eggs

Put all together in a pan and simmer for 10 minutes.
Peel eggs and add to liquid and beets.
Put all in a jar or container and cover.
Allow to pickle for about 2 days before using (aka,EATING!)

This recipe first appeared in the Pitcher Hill Church’s Ladies Cook Book.

It’s my grandmother’s recipe, or maybe even her mother’s, or her mother’s mother’s. We’re not 100% sure.  What I can guarantee is that these are delicious. Make them and eat them in good health.

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¹ Last year someone asked, a little snidely in my opinion, why the recipe didn’t use fresh beets.  My answer to this is: Because it is my grandmother’s recipe, and this is how I’ve always eaten these eggs, and so it’s how I’ll always make them.  Also, this is an old recipe, from a time when canned beets were probably considered a luxury.  If anyone has ever tried making these with fresh beets, I would love to hear about your experience. Please leave a comment.

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Waiting

In cooking, food, gardening, herbal, living, porcine, recipes, veggies on March 22, 2009 at 8:54 am

So sorry to keep you waiting.

It’s happening to me, too.  I’m just waiting for Spring to pop.  And for our little mini-vacation next weekend, (we’re going to Bermuda, yay!).  Waiting for the pear blossoms I’m forcing inside to bloom, for root vegetables to be displaced at the market and for a time when I can stop filling the bird feeders.  And right now I’m waiting for my mom to come over, so we can take her out for lunch.  And then it’ll be back to waiting again.

At least it’s active waiting.  Yesterday I turned over the compost pile.  Last weekend I drew up a plan for the beds I want to make in the old garden.  Today I’m hoping to draw up plans for the new garden (I’m thinking of turning one bed over entirely to squashes and melons and the other to nitrogen-fixing and super-tasty beans).

There are a few signs of things to come.  There’s a little patch of snowdrops, and two tiny, brave yellow crocuses sticking their heads out of the dirt (my mom says the yellow ones are always first).  And there are the promises of flowers everywhere; on the trees, on the bushes, in the ground.  But still we wait.

Last week I was feeling itchy, I wanted to see signs of spring in the city.  So I walked across Central Park to the eastside.  I could hear spring.  The birds were in full courtship mode, but there were very few flowers.

Click here for more, if you have the patience.

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