Finicky stuff in crafting and baking

[wiseheart]

So, you thought flour sacks are easy? So did I. Until I started working on the inside of the mill for the songbook. For some reason I thought giving the flour sack a jute ribbon covering would be a good idea. I did that earlier for baskets, and it worked well. Only that earlier I had a jute ribbon with really small holes between the threads - this one had fairly big ones. I won't bore you with the details, let me just tell you this: securing every single thread end with two stitches took me half the morning. For a sack that was roughly 9cm by 6cm in size! Never again...

I also made a date and walnut bread because I was given half a pound of dried dates by Gaby when she last visited. Being the lazy git that I am, I found an idiot proof, very easy recipe on the WWW. By the description, I should have about 20 minutes of work with it - if I didn't have to chop the dratted dates first! They were dried, hard and sticky. Chopping them took me a good 50 minutes. Thank God I thought of it last night, or else there wouldn't have been any baking today. As it is, I finished with them at 1.30am. Brrrr!

But the cake is absolutely wonderful, especially considering that neither of us actually likes dates and that we aren't all that fond of walnuts, either. I still doubt that I'd make it ever again, unless I find chopped dates somewhere.

I also made celery salad today. Celery was on sale at Aldi, and I remembered that we made this salad in the convent, back in 1987 or so, which I quite liked. As a rule, I don't like celery, either (I generally don't like vegetables, period), but I thought I'd give it a try. Well, the salad turned out decent enough, but I didn't find it anywhere near as good as I remembered. Ah, well, not a big loss if I never make it again. Bad enough that we'll be eating it for another two days at least, and that despite the fact that I had chosen the smallest celery available. For the German speakers among us, it was Knollensellerie, not the green stalks.

Today was also laundry day, with all that it includes, so I'm well and truly dead on my feet.

Comments

[meathiel]

Salat aus Knollenselerie ist sehr lecker.
Du musst ihn als Rohkost zubereiten, gerieben und einen Apfel dazu reiben. Dann Nüsse — Walnüsse — dazu. Sauce aus Essig, Öl, Salatkräutern, Zwiebel und Sahne. So gut!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ich glaube nicht, daß Mutti Rohkost verdauen könnte — außer den Apfel. Im Kloster haben wir die Sellerie erst mal gekocht, so habe ich dasselbe versucht. Es ist nicht schlecht... nur nichts Besonderes.

[meathiel]

Ach schade ... so ist er nämlich viel besser.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Wir sind daran gewöhnt, alles zu Tode zu kochen. *g*

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Ouch! If vegetables. then those I can eat raw. Finely grated celery with apples and walnuts- wonderful as a salad!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I take your word for it, but I have to cook for a senior citizen with barely a few teeth. *g*

[manue7a.livejournal.com]

Sellerie ist ein verbotenes Gemüse. Zumindest sollte es verboten sein ;)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Nicht deine Leibspeise, nehme ich an?

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize flour sacks were so touchy.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Neither had I — until now. I always thought they were robust and easy. *g*

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[lone-sewist.livejournal.com]

Hi, would it be okay to add you? I'm also into crafts. I found you because I started following one of your friends, but for some reason never formally introduced myself to her, so now feel too awkward to comment on her posts lol. That's why I'm here, actually introducing myself. I'm assuming you're much older than me, given that I was born in the year you made your salad. :D

Just a quick note, I'm Christian and I do write about experiences with that. I don't know what your religion is or if you have one, but I don't have any issues with other beliefs. I just mention this in case my journaling on the subject would put you off.

Anyway, just let me know what you think. I'll add you as a friend if you give me the okay, and you can take a look and decide if we're a good match. If not, no worries whatsoever.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the madhouse! :)

I'm Christian, too, so no worries. And yeah, I'm as old as dirt, but used to be a school teacher, so I can get on with much younger people fairly well. Or so my former students always stated.

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

Most crafts are beyond me, but I get vicarious pleasure/pain reading about your adventures. Those flour sacks sound painfully tiresome.
Today I’m attempting to do something with chicken breasts. My gastroenterologist recommends I include meat in my diet as I cannot digest most veggies. The ongoing (most disastrous) attempts of a lifelong vegetarian to cook meat! I screwed up chicken curry the other day. I had to remove the chicken pieces and replace with tofu in order to save it! At least I ate the chicken bone broth I was using as stock in the curry. Today I will attempt not to cook the chicken into dry impossible-to-chew inedible pieces.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

There is this one dish I like and that is very easy. Just cook the chicken breast in chicken broth until it is really soft. Then cook some rice, tear the cooked meat into small pieces, stir them into the rice and done. You can add some grated cheese if you like, or pieces of cooked veggies (the ones you can digest). We eat it from time to time, and even Mum can deal with it, despite her lack of teeth. (Well, she still has four, but they are wacky, too.)

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

I think I’ll try that! Thanks you.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

You are welcome. Having a senior in the family (first Grandma, and now Mum) makes one creative in the kitchen. *f*

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

You've reminded me that I need to check my laundry basket. Ringtons, who deliver to your door, make a lovely date and walnut cake. Like you, I'm not a big fan of dates, but I adore that loaf cake. I have to severely hold myself in check every time the Rington's lady arrives with her big basket of goodies for me to choose from.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Temptation is a horrible, irresistible thing. *nods sagely*

I never knew date and walnut cake even existed, and I was at a loss what to do with those dates gifted upon me. Fortunately, I regularly watch "This Day in History" on a channel called English Club TV (intended for those who want to exercise their language skills), and they said one day that it was "Date and Walnut Bread Day". I googled a bit, found this recipe, give it a try — and we both loved it!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Date and walnut cake definitely improves both dates and walnuts for me, too.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Not a friend of them, either? *g*

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

I am so far behind on laundry it is not funny. Especially, since I have one of those new washers that "save" water, which means it takes forever to wash the clothes. it is going to take me at least three days to catch up — sigh. I don't care for walnuts and I can eat dates, although they remind me of roaches, so I kind of cringe when I put one in my mouth. They are very sweet though, can only ever eat just one.