Posted in Writing, tagged #allsignspointotyes, #LendTheFuture, #NLW16, access, books, community building, free, innovation, inspiration, libraries, public infrastructure, quotes, ray bradbury, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing, yay on April 20, 2016| 1 Comment »
Last week was National Library Week in the U.S. I’m coming to it late* but as far as I’m concerned, most weeks should involve a library:) Why, you may ask? So many reasons! And for those of us North of the Border, stay tuned because October is Canadian Library Month!
Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.
— Ray Bradbury
* I blame a hectic work schedule but mostly the glorious backlog of library books on my shelves, just waiting to be read:)
Posted in Writing, tagged #ThingsILike, artists, books, inspiration, Jane Smiley, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing, yay on April 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.”
― Jane Smiley
Me too:)
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #redwoods, artists, inspiration, JK Rowling, Motivation, persistence, quotes, rejection, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing, yay on April 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Life is not supposed to be neat. And it’s a comfort. It’s a comfort to all of us who have messed up. And then you find your way back…
— JK Rowling
Posted in Food and..., Likes, tagged #MapleWeekend, #SyrupTsunami, #ThingsILike, #VisitOntario, awesome, Ents, food, fun, home, LotR, memories, Ontario, persistence, snow, sugar shack, winter, yay on April 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »
For today’s installment of #ThingsILike, I give you maple syrup. (Honestly, is there anyone out there who does not enjoy this delicious treat from the northern woods?) Lucky me, it looks like this year’s wacky weather patterns have resulted in a veritable tsunami of syrup!
For those of you not intimately familiar with the process of maple syrup production, it goes like this:
[Maple] trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple trees can be tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap, which is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.
Here’s a video to showing a basic tap and bucket assembly, but I’ve seen outfits with setups running what look like miles of bright blue tubing directly from the trees to the sugar shack.
Even with modern improvements, this isn’t the sort of agricultural process that can be exported to alternate climes. The trees require cold winters and sap production levels depend on spring temperatures finely balanced between colder nights and warmer days.
It turns out that the weather this March has been pretty near perfect, at least if you are a sugar maple. Waking trees drink up groundwater during the day, convert the stored starches in their roots to sugar, and pump the resulting sap up their trunks and into waiting sap buckets.
Collect, boil, repeat, at least until the sap stops running.
Making syrup requires a lot of work and patience. The old fashioned way involves big black kettles and a steady supply of wood to keep the fire going. Even with new, more efficient boilers, reducing sap to syrup takes hours.
My mother took us to a friend’s sugaring party when I was a child. My brother and I ran from tree to tree, hauling half-full buckets through the snowy woods to the kettle and back. The fresh sap tasted like the Entish draughts of my imagination, its clear cool taste instantly refreshing. We also poured hot syrup onto plates of snow to make maple taffy. Freaking amazing.
As luck (or clever planning?) would have it, I am located in the heart of maple syrup country. Quebec and Ontario are the largest maple syrup producers in Canada.
If you happen to be in Ontario this weekend and you love maple syrup as much as I do, you’re in luck. It’s Maple Weekend and I plan to stock up for the year. Because delicious!
Posted in Food and..., Likes, tagged #fuelforwriters, #ThingsILike, food, home, Pi Day, pie, yay on March 11, 2016| 1 Comment »
It’s a bit before lunch and I’m feeling snacky, so today’s edition of #ThingsILike is food related. (Let’s face it, a lot of the things I like are food related:)
In honor of the coming Pi Day (March 14th, for obvious reasons:) and my mother’s cooking, I give you one of my favorite fruit pie recipes. Thanks, Mom!
Blueberry Orange Pie
Crust:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, shortening or a mix (I use butter for flavor)
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
5 Tbs. ice water
Filling:
4 cups blueberries (frozen work fine)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
touch of vanilla, Grand Marnier, or lemon juice if the berries need a flavor boost
2 Tbs. butter
Powdered sugar
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Cut in butter until it is no more than pea sized. Add orange rind and nuts. Add water, 1 Tbs. at a time, mixing after each addition. Form into a ball and refrigerate* one hour before using.
3. Roll out half of the dough and use to line a 9-inch pie pan. Mix berries, sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and any extras. Pour mixture into pie pan and dot with butter.
4. Roll out remaining pastry and cover pie. Seal edges with water and cut vents in the top for steam. Bake 1 hour, cool on rack and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.
Note: This pie will probably overflow. Use a cookie sheet or foil beneath the dish unless you like cleaning ovens;)
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* If you don’t have an hour I’ll note that I’ve skipped this step; the dough is harder to work and not quite as perfect, but the end result was still nommy. Since we’re fessing up about time-saving measures, I’ll admit that I’ve also used store-bought pie crusts, seasoned with the orange rind and walnuts. Desperate times, but in the end, pie:)
Posted in Likes, tagged #ExploreCanada, fun, home, snow, snow angel, Thoughts, winter, yay on February 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Well, kids, I’ve officially got nothing today. Sure, I wrote and got my exercise in and worked on a couple of projects, but deep thoughtful thoughts? Sorry, nada.
I do have wonderful memories of childhood snow storms, though, so in honor of the fact that is snowing here, I give you a snow angel.
Posted in Likes, tagged #firefall, #ThingsILike, awesome, effing amazing, inspiration, national parks, nature, photography, Serengeti, Stephen Wilkes, Thoughts, yay, Yosemite on February 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I have two #ThingsILike today, because I couldn’t choose between them. All I can say is wow!
‘When People Can See Time’: Photographer Captures Day, Night In One Image
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged #ThingsILike, arts, awesome, creativity, entertainment, free, libraries, Pennsylvania, yay on February 12, 2016| 1 Comment »
What’s this, what’s this? Libraries that will let you check out musical instruments plus have a librarian trained to help patrons with the tricky bits? That’s something I like.
Pennsylvania Libraries Will Let You Check Out a Ukulele
There’s a strange sound emerging from some Pennsylvania libraries. It’s not the sound of pages turning or scanners scanning—it’s the distinctive dainty, nimble strum that comes from a ukulele.
Even in the age of the internet libraries are incredible resources, and this just adds to the awesome. Not that I play ukelele, but that’s kind of the point. Libraries let you sample a wide variety of knowledge, experience, and perspectives. Yesterday a Moroccan cookbook, today space opera, tomorrow ukelele:)
How great is that?
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